<r 



=^ 



LIBRARY 



OF 




THE 



V 



AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 

WASHINGTON, D. C 

PRESENTKD BY ARTEMAS MARTIN, M. A. 



J 




Glass ^8 6 6 
Book+xk- 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



;st- t*> 



imimimwMiimi 








^H-g-CO^I 



flj= * a „ a S a _-g ^s-'.s.c r 




r«"oai;>« :n r--n.3"-' = <'O08-~^x — 



03 



Hi 

O '" _n ~ 5 



m g T» ** S *? S a) 5 « » » 



be. 






•5?a: 






» 2 a £ 5-g o^ 3 « a g jCJi- so>>?£ P ? « © so- SPae $ s o'5 S ^o j »? 

C^ S'SSTii o!> S&Q3.2 ?^J.^aJ3B^5<Btf. ej.5?c3u ^cJv-^acsCai.SocJ 



C o 



«o © 

-■a r» 



• «T-c a 
S ?3 




■" -a Jl i yS --a ;iis--. i ^ g ff i S I •'- „. -. >■ 
© 5 J e- -= 3 a 3 -a <t - ~. .z --. ~ '■ -z z - ? c- ^ 



S a =-» s» a- 



, s» o 
cri* £-a» 



Pa 

*> *» B £ <B 

** — ^ — *» 

— O » ,1 4 r* 

- £ p. 1» £' ° 



*3 






5 OS 5*tf g" 05 

a a^<<s-» 




S "3 

3* 



2 * 3 s 
= * is 3 u 

fc a © . S 

„ o ^^ 

ja $ © s 



a tuij5 ^ * S o^ 3 n-^ O'S - 






« „ O, 

o a 






ftSS'S'S Mig' HO »>.2 3 



■a '3 



>■ O 5-=^ 



«» *; .— .^r a oj a q 
_ xx> t- =.0 a. • 



<U !»•- 






. o « „ -a - S 1 Mj= 
*" ^ Si m « .2 $•=»♦' 
2.S25S2^ 

— aw a a a) * m 

TS ■"■ 73 o 3 n t^-.o <o ' 



O ^g „ 3 Q « 






0> J _M 



iJi 



ui cu 



13 'c3 Si-a.S— s.a— . 
> a 3 bt £t3- po 

1 »».S o 2^-2 a^-a £f i 



i 3 



a> a> a — s I S. 



3, — _ &H ^ 



a o o -^ 

S «^ >,ii 

« T" ffl 2 -a 

js b£_ to a> 



■2 1^.2 a 

Ofl S « n 

* - ° *"" 



id a; g W 2 

St/3 P S ° 
to *- MH 



03 t. i: jj & 

>•" 3 o2 3 

_ E ''2 J -|_ ) PJ3 
05 n a "° ° — - 

° rf « d «-; 
as 3- c3 



s-rt^'S'S. 






ip -. • 

to **-« 



_- o3 



I— ' <j 3 3 1° 



i2 »- 

K O fl 
t» « > 



■o J3 



■« ^ J3 oj" o t3 



.-J 03 w n T 



2 tr * -2 2 .2 -r i* * ■-" 
o.tS'S-- -2382 

■3 OJvI-l' ^ O SS 

co *a *"■' ^ ^^ e3 p ."a 

g^,"- 2 03 « - O 03 03 

.^c ° S£ Bo- 1 



— «i * — 
_ £ 2 "o3 mi? 

j a B " S mS 

*^s « 2 s a o-<j-s > 

t5 S£.2 -« 5 



bt v 5 



„^oj-- % « — 1 I J r t* & t*. 



O g 



.- 3 



5 ^ I '5 

p f a a a »-• 3 

tnSfcUOS-aSO 




^ O--^ 3 

• — s K J » 3 a 

v — 03 v , v-.SS S ~" <-c o 

2to-o2 fen OK = o 

^-i?§g.s--S' a |'S 

o3T^ ^.2C w_ 00^3 03 

o fe 5 "■« a S'S S^ 03 

i2 O « 3J3 C3,* 3 fc > 

os h. P. S."" ' A..iloS 



q 1 03 T3 ' 

00 -2 «■> 

JD_.II> O 

a 2= 2 ° 

= Sa J ^ 

® i?£ c 

•s 2^« a 

c 2 03 > 

-<*»•- j -- 

a*j +3 « 



o © 
J^ 3 



u faC"3 3 « 

J C 3"- t, 3 i 

.-" 03 to 3 o © 

03 a © — >:_, 
o'-a cJ- -.3 0-5 
s =<-— o M 2 

S-^S -Ho," 
00 a" fl ^^ 'O 
SSla 5 ^^ 



k5cs .» 
o) _- q,. G ^ 

o S So'5-S 

^ ro M O flfrt 

2.2 ■" M 3 3 

a „ T3 ,M O 03 

3 w b a M 

3 © 03 .tJ B 3 

— t- _ <1> » 

- ojCS — J3 



o a -s "i 2£a 

© 1- "a «T3^ 

©C*ii03.2** U© 

a ■•■" ^ « <-■ 

be "-• as ° 
© "3 M .2 <* 2 « 6 

oi3.2 



a _ b£b«b4 — ^,TT" ©S'O SET S 5— = 
"S^_,B'-©'-© 3 'a7? t ^So30c 
a a o-« m ^. wvh>m»»j3w^ a mm 



5l^2a 

r^ ° id O ri 



_ -a" M o x! .2 m -a 
-~o3_ooao3 

© O O O IO 3 — ■ 

s-i T3 ki X m 3 

«©30«33© 
a^oJ-r-03— XI 

SgSiSSSolS 




-3 

a 

s 




—7 
n — 


H 


p 5 




= -.-■= 


f 


t 


z 


? - 


C 




< - 


C 


1 


.U 
- --; 


£ r- s 


i 


~ 3 


ii 


di- 


7 it.r 


£ c" 

— s ~ 
: ;: 


> 
z 


I 


= 


-_. — 


i 


S 


TJ.ti 

2 — 

3 *> 


i 


c 


i-2 


° i 
3.frj 


z 


a 


— 


-*-> 


- ? 


■~ - --> 


t 


■- 


< - 


i .-■ 


'£ 


e. 


,: 33 


t; 


£ 


-. a 










="SSS^a-S 



J 25 : =.?- % is, = S ,.T^i - J 5 ;-' 

t-- »?'"SI|I il E- It |I -I ! ' ii^ 













\ 




&EOLO&ICAL SURVEY OF CALIFORNIA. 

J. D. WHITNEY, State Geologist. 



THE 



YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK: 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY AND THE 

ADJACENT REGION OF THE SIERRA NEVADA, 

AND OF THE BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA, 



ILLUSTRATED BY MAPS AND WOODCUTS. 



PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE LEGISLATURE. 

1870. 






University Press : Welch, Bigelow, & Co., 
Cambridge. 



' 



4> 

j J 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Object of the present volume, — its origin, — the Congressional grant of the Yosemite Valley 
and the Big Trees to the State of California, 9 ; action of the Governor, — appointment 
and names of Commissioners, — surveys to establish the boundaries of the grants, — accept- 
ance of the grants by the State, 10 ; action of the Legislature, — authority given the State 
Geologist to prepare a guide-book of the Valley and Grove, — action of the Commissioners 
and the State Geologist in carrying out the directions of the Legislature, 1 1 ; Surveys made 
for the Commissioners, — report of the Commissioners, 13 ; their plans and wishes, — history 
of the settlement of the Yosemite Valley, — Indian war, 14 ; aboriginal names of the promi- 
nent points in and around the Yosemite, 16, 17; these names not current at present, — 
system adopted by the Geological Survey in piving names, 18 ; history of the discovery and 
settlement of the Yosemite, — first visits by tourists, — public houses built there, 19 ; settlers 
in the Valley, — their attempt to get possession of it, — action of the Legislature and Con- 
gress, 20; reason for not yielding to their demands, 21 ; the promises and the duties of the 
State of California, 22. 

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL. 

Sketch of the topographical features of the United States, 24, 25 ; the mountain system west of 
the 105th meridian, 25 ; the name suggested for it as a whole, 26 ; history of its exploration, 
26, 27 ; need of good maps, — sanitary value of mountain travel, 27 ; mountains of Califor- 
nia, 28 ; the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada, 29 ; topography and botany of the Coast 
Ranges, 31 , 33 ; interesting points to be visited, 34, 35 ; ascent of Monte Diablo, 34 ; char- 
acter of Coast Range scenery, 35 ; views from points about San Francisco, 35, 36 ; the 
Sierra Nevada, 37-46; its extent, 37 ; elevation, 38; heights of passes and dominating 
peaks, 38, 39 ; its geology, 39 ; forest vegetation, 40, 41 ; climate, 42 ; rain and snow on the 
Sierra, 43, 44 ; former existence of glaciers, 45 ; former greater precipitation, 46. 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE TOSEMITE VALLEY. 

The Yosemite Valley, its position, 47 ; routes to, 48 ; advantages of each, 49 ; advice in regard 
to getting to and from the Valley, 50 ; the route by Coulterville, 51 ; the Bower Cave, 52 ; 
Pilot Peak, 53 ; route by Bear Valley and Mariposa, 54 ; "White and Hatch's, — Clark's 
ranch, 55; Westfall's, — position of the Yosemite, — maps referred to, 56, 57; principal 
features of the Valley, 57 ; El Capitan, 58 ; Bridal Veil Pall, 59 ; Virgin's Tears Pall, — 
Cathedral Eock, 60 ; the Three Brothers, 62 ; Sentinel Eock, 62 ; the Yosemite Pall, 62-65; 
Eoyal Arches, — North Dome, 66 ; Half Dome, 67, 68 ; Mirror Lake, — Cloud's Eest, 69 ; 
the Vernal Fall, 70; Nevada Fall, 71 ; the Illilouette canon, 72 ; botany, topography, and 
geology of the Yosemite, 72-87 ; its shape and elevation, 73 ; vegetation, 73-76; the walls, 
— exit from, 77 ; its waterfalls, 77 ; changes in the waterfalls at different seasons, 78 ; com- 
parison of celebrated falls with those of the Yosemite, 79; appearance of the Valley in the 
winter, — peculiar type of scenery in the Yosemite, 80 ; how originated, — not by aqueous 
erosion, 81, 82 ; nor by glaciers, 83 ; general remarks on the formation of Valleys, 84 ; 
theory suggested for the origin of the Yosemite, 85 ; reasons for adopting this theory, 86, 87. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE HIGH SIERRA. 

Visitors to the Yosemite advised to extend their journey to the higher regions of the Sierra 
Nevada, — advantages of the climate for such excursions, 88 ; comparison of Swiss and Cali- 
fornian scenery, 89 ; tour around the Yosemite, 90 ; route to be followed, 91 ; visit to the top 
of the Three Brothers, 92 ; to summit of Mount Hoffmann, 93 ; view of Castle Peak, 93 ; 
Lake Tenaya, 94 ; Cathedral Peak, 95, 96 ; Tuolumne Valley, and Soda Springs, 97 ; view 
from Soda Springs, 98; glaciers once existing here, — description of the scenery, — the 
Tuolumne canon probably containing grand waterfalls, — the Hetch-Hctchy Valley, 99; 
ascent of Mount Dana, 100; topography of the crest of the Sierra, 101 ; passes near Mount 
Dana, — view from its stimmit, 102; geology, — glaciers, — moraine lakes, 103; ascent 
of Mount Lyell, 104; return route, — the Little Yosemite, 105 ; Mount Starr King, — Sen- 
tinel Dome, 106; views from the Dome and Glacier Point, 107 ; the Merced Group, — the 
Obelisk, 108 ; Mount Eitter, 109 ; the Hetch-Hetchy Valley, 110, 111 ; High Sierra at head 
of King's and Kern Eivers, 112, 138; party for its exploration in 1864, 112 ; their route, — 
ascent of Bald Mountain, 113 ; scenery of the region, — Dyke Eidge, — Big Meadows, 114; 
Dome Mountains, 115; structure of the granite, 116; the Kettle, 117, 118; the divide 
beyond the Kettle, 119; Sugar Loaf Eock, — Mount Brewer, 120 ; view from Mount Brewer, 
121, 122 ; topography of the region, 122; magnificence of the scenery, and character of the 
country about the head of King's Kiver, 123; Mr. King's ascent of Mount Tyndall, 124, 
126; view from its summit, 126; attempt to ascend Mount Whitney, 127, 128; route fol- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll 

lowed, — topography of the region, — elevation reached, 128; canon of south fork of 
King's River, 129; stupendous scenery, 129, 130; pass out from the canon, — attempts to 
reach Mount Goddard, 130; Mount King, 130; the Palisades, 131 ; the party descends into 
Owen's Valley, 132 ; return across the Sierra at head of west branch of Owen's River, 133 ; 
grandeur of the scenery, — Red Slate Peaks, 134; depression at forks of King's River, — 
region loved by the Diggers, 135 ; ascent of Mount Goddard, — north fork of the San Joa- 
quin, 136; dome of granite, — getting out. of the canon, — scenery, — Mount Ritter, 137; 
ascent of Black Mountain, return to Clark's ranch, 138. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BIG TREES. 

First discovery of the Big Trees, 139 ; history of their scientific nomenclature, 140, 141 ; wide 
distribution of the cultivated trees, 141 ; name of the genus, whence derived, 141, 142 ; geo- 
graphical range and habitat of the redwood and Big Tree, 142 ; size of the redwood, 143 ; 
grandeur of the redwood forests, 144; distribution of the Big Trees, 144, 145; the Calaveras 
Grove, 145 ; measurements of the trees in the grove, 146 ; age of the Big Trees, 147 ; height 
of, — the Beaver Creek Grove, — the Crane Flat Grove, 148 ; the Mariposa Grove, 149 - 151 ; 
measurements of trees in this grove, — vegetation of the meadows and grove, 151; the 
Lower Grove, — the Grizzly Giant, — Fresno County Grove, 152 ; the King's River belt of 
Big Trees, 153 ; the Tule River Groves, 154 ; comparison of the Big Trees with other trees, 
154, 155. 



PEEFATOKY NOTE, 



A statement of the way in which the present volume came to he authorized 
hy the Legislature, and of the sources from which the information it contains 
was drawn, will be found in the introductory chapter. It may be proper to add, 
that two editions of the work have been published, one in quarto form, with 
photographic illustrations, the other (the present volume, namely), with wood- 
cuts. These cuts have been selected from among those used in the first vol- 
ume of our " Geology of California." The maps are the same in both editions, 
and the text also, except that some verbal changes have been made, and a 
few pages added, in this edition, relating to that portion of the High Sierra 
which lies near the head of the Kern, King's, and San Joaquin Rivers. 

J. D. W. 

Cambridge, Mass., May 1, 1869. 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The object of this volume is to call the attention of the public to the 
scenery of California, and to furnish a reliable guide to some of its most 
interesting features, namely, the Yosemite Valley, the High Sierra in its 
immediate vicinity, and the so-called " Big Trees." Much has indeed already 
been published in regard to these remarkable localities ; but in all that has 
been given to the public, with the exception of the necessarily brief descrip- 
tion in the Report of the Geological Survey (Geology, Vol. I.), there has been 
little of accuracy, and almost nothing of permanent value. 

The origin of the present volume is to be found in the action of Congress 
and the State of California in regard to the Yosemite Valley and the Mari- 
posa Grove of Big Trees. This action dates back to the year 18G4. In that 
year Congress, being moved thereto by certain influential and intelligent 
citizens of California, passed the following Act : — 

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America, in Congress assembled, That there shall be, and is hereby, granted to the 
State of California, the ' Cleft ' or ' Gorge ' in the Granite Peak of the Sierra 
Nevada Mountain, situated in the county of Mariposa, in the State aforesaid, 
and the head-waters of the Merced River, and known as the Yosemite Valley, 
with its branches and spurs, in estimated length fifteen miles, and in average 
width one mile back from the main edge of the precipice, on each side of the 
valley, with the stipulation, nevertheless, that the said State shall accept this 
grant upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, 
resort, and recreation ; shall be inalienable for all time ; but leases not exceeding 
ten years may be granted for portions of said premises. All incomes derived 
from leases of privileges to be expended in the preservation and improvement of 
2 



10 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

the property, or the roads leading thereto ; the boundaries to be established at 
the cost of said State by the United States Surveyor-General of California, whose 
official plat, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, shall 
constitute the evidence of the locus, extent, and limits of the said Cleft or Gorge ; 
the premises to be managed by the Governor of the State, with eight other Com- 
missioners, to be appointed by the Executive of California, and who shall receive 
no compensation for their services. 

" Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall likewise be, and there is 
hereby, granted to the said State of California, the tracts embracing what is 
known as the ' Mariposa Big Tree Grove,' not to exceed the area of four sections, 
and to be taken in legal subdivisions of one-quarter section each, with the like 
stipulations as expressed in the first section of this Act as to the State's accept- 
ance, with like conditions as in the first section of this Act as to inalienability, 
yet with the same lease privileges ; the income to be expended in the preservation, 
improvement, and protection of the property, the premises to be managed by 
Commissioners, as stipulated in the first section of this Act, and to be taken in 
legal subdivisions as aforesaid ; and the official plat of the United States Surveyor- 
General, when affirmed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to be the 
evidence of the locus of the said Mariposa Big Tree Grove." 

The above-cited Act was approved by the President, June 30, 1864, and 
shortly after a Proclamation was issued by the then Governor of California, 
F. F. Low, taking possession of the tracts thus granted, in the name and on 
behalf of the State, appointing commissioners to manage them, and warning 
all persons against trespassing or settling there without authority, and espe- 
cially forbidding the cutting of timber and other injurious acts. 

The Commissioners first appointed were F. Law Olmsted, J. D. Whitney, 
William Ashburner, I. W. Raymond, E. S. Holden, Alexander Deering, George 
W. Coulter, and Galen Clark, all of whom continue to hold office, with the 
exception of Mr. Olmsted, who resigned shortly after returning to the East, 
and whose place has been filled by the appointment of Henry W. Cleaveland. 

The surveys necessary to establish the boundaries of the grants in question, 
as required by the Act of Congress, were made in the autumn of 1864, by 
Messrs. J. T. Gardner and C. King, and the official plat of their work was 
forwarded by the Surveyor-General of California to the authorities at Wash- 
ington, and accepted by the Commissioner of the General Land Office ; thus, 
in the language of the Act, establishing "the locus, extent, and limits" of the 
grants of the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove. 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

A map of the Yosemite Valley, on a scale of two inches to one mile, was 
drawn by Mr. Gardner, showing the boundaries of the Yosemite Valley grant, 
and the topography of its immediate vicinity. This map has been engraved 
and is appended to the present volume, as will be noticed further on. 

Before, however, the Yosemite Valley and the Big Tree Grove could become 
the property of the State, it was necessary that the grant made by Congress 
should be accepted by the State Legislature, with all the stipulations and 
reservations contained therein. The grant had no validity until the State, 
through its Legislature, had solemnly promised to take the premises for the 
benefit of the people, for their use, resort, and recreation, and especially " to 
hold them inalienable for all time." This was not an ordinary gift of 
land, to be sold and the proceeds used as desired ; but a trust imposed on 
the State, of the nature of a solemn compact, forever binding after having 
been once accepted. Had the State declined to accept the trust, on the con- 
ditions expressed in the Act, the whole proceeding would have been null and 
void, and the premises would have continued, as they originally were, a part 
of the national domain. 

But, at the next session of the Legislature of California after the passage 
of the Act of Congress cited above, an Act was passed accepting the grant of 
the Yosemite Valley and the Big Tree Grove, on the stipulated conditions, 
confirming the appointment of the Commissioners, organizing them into a body 
for legal purposes, and empowering them to make regulations and by-laws for 
their own government. The Act of the Legislature also contained provisions 
making it a penal offence to commit depredations on the premises, and 
authorizing the appointment of a guardian to take charge of the Grove and 
Valley. 

In this Act there was special authority given to the State Geologist to 
make further explorations and surveys in and about the premises ceded by 
the United States, and to prepare and publish such topographical maps and 
reports on the region as he might deem advisable, for the purpose of furnish- 
ing travellers with desirable information. This was a part of the legitimate 
work of the Geological Survey ; and similar explorations, maps, and reports of 
the whole of the mountain regions of the State, but especially of the Sierra 
Nevada, should be made, and, indeed, would have been, had the necessary 
means been furnished by the Legislature ; for no more suitable way of em- 



12 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

ploying our time and money could be suggested than this. Thus the first 
step towards increasing the facilities of travel and fulfilling the stipulations 
of the grant was taken, to be followed, it was hoped, by opening roads and 
trails in and about the Valley and Gi-ove, building bridges, and by a variety 
of similar enterprises calculated to render the region accessible and attractive 
to travellers. 

In obedience to the special request of the Legislature, therefore, our atten- 
tion was at once turned to the region of the Yosemite Valley ; and, as early 
in 1866 as the season would permit, a party was organized by the State 
Geologist for the purpose of making a detailed geographical and geological 
survey of the High Sierra in that vicinity, — a district which had been rapidly 
reconnoitred and roughly mapped by us during the season of 1863, enough 
work having been done at that time to satisfy us that its scenery was in the 
highest degree attractive, and that it possessed many features which should 
make it particularly desirable as a resort for pleasure travellers, in addition to 
the Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees themselves. The party of 1866 con- 
sisted of Messrs. King, Gardner, Bolander, and Brinley, with two men, and was 
accompanied during a part of the time by the State Geologist. This party 
continued in the field from June to October, exploring and mapping the 
region about the heads of the Merced, Tuolumne, and San Joaquin Rivers, or 
that portion of the High Sierra which lies between the parallels of 37° 30' 
and 38°, and which is most easily and naturally accessible by the same 
approaches which lead to the Yosemite Valley. An accurate topographical 
map of the district embraced in these explorations was commenced by Mr. 
Gardner, in the winter of 1866, on a scale of two miles to one. inch. To 
complete the surveys necessary for this map, — a work requiring more than 
one season, — another party was organized in 1867, under the direction of Mr. 
Hoffmann. This party continued in the field during the months of August 
and September of that year, and the map was finished and placed in the 
engraver's hands in the spring of 1868, and will be found appended to the 
present volume. It contains the minute details of the topography of one of 
the roughest and most elevated portions of the State, and is believed to be the 
first accurate map of any high mountain region ever prepared in the United 
States. 

Besides the surveys and explorations mentioned above as having been made 



INTRODUCTORY. 13 

under the direction of the State Geologist, by authority of the Legislature, 
for the purpose of preparing a reliable guide-book to the Yosemite Valley, a 
careful survey of the bottom of the Valley was made for the use of the Com- 
missioners and plotted on a scale of ten chains to one inch, making a map 
fifty by thirty inches in size. This map has the number of acres of each 
tract of meadow, timber, and fern land designated on it, and also the bounda- 
ries of the claims of the settlers, and a statement of the number of acres 
enclosed and claimed by them. The principal grove of trees in the Big Tree 
grant was also surveyed, each tree of over one foot in diameter measured, and 
the height of a number of them accurately determined. As thus measured, the 
trees were carefully plotted, so that their exact position, size, and relations to 
each other can be seen at a glance. 

From the very limited appropriation of $ 2,000 made by the Legislature of 
1865-66 for the purposes of the Commissioners, but little remained after pay- 
ing the salary of the Guardian of the Grove and Valley, Mr. Galen Clark ; 
with what was left some improvements were made on the trails in the Val- 
ley, in order to render interesting points more accessible, and two bridges 
were built across the Merced River ; one at the lower end of the Valley, in 
order to avoid the delay and expense of the ferry ; the other above the 
Vernal Fall, so that the summit of the Nevada Fall might be rendered acces- 
sible. Unfortunately, both these bridges were swept away by the unprece- 
dentedly high water of the winter of 1867-68, which destroyed every bridge 
on the Merced River. 

At the session of the Legislature of California which commenced in Decem- 
ber, 1867, the first after the taking possession of the Yosemite Valley by the 
State, the Commissioners presented their report, as required by law, in which 
they stated what they had been able to accomplish in the way of improve- 
ments in and about the Valley, and requested a small additional appropriation 
for the purpose of making interesting points more accessible, and of removing 
all charges or tolls on ladders, ferries, bridges, &c. They also asked for a 
sufficient sum for the salary of the Guardian and his assistant, so that one or 
the other might be able to be on the spot during all the season for visitors, 
it having been found that careless or malicious persons would injure or even 
cut down the trees and shrubs, or set them on fire, unless some person, 
armed with the authority of the State, was at hand to prevent such mischief. 



14 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Besides all this, reference was made to the case of certain settlers in, and 
claimants to, portions of the Yosemite Valley, to which the attention of the 
reader will have to be called for a short time. And, in order to understand 
the condition of things, it will be necessary to go back and give a brief ac- 
count of the discovery and occupation of the Valley, embodying in this 
account some particulars with which it will always be interesting for travel- 
lers to be acquainted. 

The whites living on the streams which head in the vicinity of the Yosem- 
ite had, in 1850, found themselves tmable to live in peace with the few 
scattered Indians in that region, and, after some murders and much trouble, a 
military company was formed to drive them out of the country. In the 
course of the skirmishing and fighting which took place, it was ascertained 
that the Indians had a stronghold or retreat far up in the mountains, in 
which they thought that they could take refuge, and remain without the 
slightest danger of being found. This place of refuge was the Yosemite 
Valley, and this was the way in which it first came to be heard of by white 
people. Of course the curiosity of the settlers was excited in regard to this 
stronghold, and in tbe spring of 1851 an expedition was organized, under the 
command of Captain Boling, to explore the mountains and discover and drive 
out the Indians from their fastness. This was in March, 1851. Under the 
guidance of an old chief, named Tenaya, whose name is perpetuated in the 
beautiful lake which lies between Mt Hoffmann and Cathedral Peak, and in 
the branch of the Merced Biver heading in that lake, the party reached the 
Valley, drove out the Indians, killed a few, and "made peace" with the rest, 
who were terribly disheartened at this unceremonious invasion, on the part of 
the whites, into what they had supposed to be their impregnable retreat. 
Everything seems to have remained quiet in the region until 1852, when a 
party of miners was attacked, under what provocation is not stated, by the 
Indians in the Valley, and two of them killed and buried near the Bridal 
Veil Meadow. This led to another expedition into the Valley by the Mari- 
posa battalion, who killed some and drove out the rest of the Indians ; these 
took refuge with the Monos, on the eastern side of the Sierra, but got into 
difficulty there, and, escaping with a lot of stolen horses, were followed back 
to the Yosemite by the Monos, where a battle was fought resulting in the 
almost entire extermination of the Yosemite tribe. Since that time the Val- 



INTRODUCTORY. 15 

ley has been annually visited by the Monos at the time of the ripening of 
the acoms, for the purpose of laj-ing in a stock of this staple article of food; 
but the number of Indians actually and permanently resident in and about 
the Yosemite or the Mariposa Grove is very small. Like the rest of the so- 
called " diggers " in California, they are a miserable, degraded, and fast-disap- 
pearing set of beings, who must die out before the progress of the white 
man's civilization, and for whom there is neither hope nor chance. 

The Indian residents in and about the Yosemite Valley are said to have 
been a mixed race, made up of the disaffected of the various tribes from the 
Tuolumne to King's River.* But little is known of their language ; but it is 
well ascertained that they had a name for every meadow, cliff, and waterfall 
in and about the Valley. The families of the tribe had each its special 
" reservation " or tract set apart for its use, each of these, of course, having 
its distinct appellation. It were much to be desired that these names could 
be retained and perpetuated, but it is impossible ; they have already almost 
passed into oblivion. They are so long, so uncertain in their spelling and 
meaning, that they have never been adopted into general use, and never will 
be. The only one which is current is that of the Valley itself, — " Yosemite," 
and this, it appears, is not the name given to the Valley by the Indians; the 
word means " Grizzly Bear," and was probably the name of a chief of the 
tribe ; or, perhaps, this was the name given to the Valley by the band of 
Indians driven out by the whites in 1851. Such would seem to be the case, 
from the fact that the name became cm-rent at that time. At all events, it 
is well known that the present Indian name of the Valley is, not Yosemite, 
but Ahwahnee. 

While our party was at the Yosemite, in 1866, the services of a person des- 
ignated as the most reliable Indian interpreter in the region were seemed 
to accompany us around the Valley and give the Indian names of the dif- 
ferent objects and localities and their meaning. This gentleman, Mr. B. B. 
Travis, furnished the following names, which were taken down by Mr. Bo- 
lander as nearly as he could imitate them, the Italian sounds being given to 
the vowels : — 

* See Dr. Bunnell's account of the "Indian War" in Hutchings's California Magazine, and in the 
" Scenes in California," by the same author. 



16 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Pateea. The mountain over which the Yosemite trail runs. 

Tojrinemete. The rocks between the foot of the Mariposa trail and the Bridal 
Veil Fall; said to mean "a succession of rocks." 

Pohono. The Bridal Veil Fall; explained to signify a blast of wind, or the 
night-wind, perhaps from the chilliness of the air occasioned by coming 
under the high cliff and near the falling water, or possibly with reference 
to the constant swaying of the sheet of water from one side to the other 
under the influence of the wind. Mr. Hutchings, more poetically, says that 
" Pohono " is " an evil spirit, whose breath is a blighting and fatal wind, 
and consequently to be dreaded and shunned." 

Kostikong. The rocks near Cathedral Rock, sometimes called " The Three 
Graces." 

Ptitputon. The meadow and little stream, on the Coulterville trail, first met 
in coming into the Valley ; means the " bubbling of water." 

Keialauwa. Mountains west of El Capitan. 

Lungyotuclcoya. The Virgin's Tears Creek, meaning, Pigeon Creek. 

Totolconula. Usually spelt Tutocanula, the rock generally called "El Capitan"; 
the Indians say that this name is an imitation of the cry of the crane, 
given because, in winter, this bird enters the Valley generally by flying 
over that rock. How the name El Capitan, the captain, originated it is not 
easy to say ; perhaps it may have been given with the feeling that it was 
the most striking and impressive mass of rock in the Valley, and the In- 
dians, who often have a smattering of Spanish, may have called attention 
to it as " el Capitan " ; or, as we might say, " the biggest fellow of them 
all." The west side of El Capitan is called " Ajemu," or manzanita, that 
being a place where they gather the berries of this familiar shrub. 

Wawliawke. The Three Brothers ; said to mean " falling rocks." The usual 
name given as that of the Three Brothers is " Pompompasus," equivalent to 
" Kompopaise " given by our interpreter as the name of the small rock a 
little to the west of the Three Brothers. It was said to mean " Leaping 
Frog Rock." The Three Brothers have a vague resemblance to three frogs 
with their heads turned in one direction, each higher than the one in front. 
The common idea is, that the Indians imagined the mountains to be play- 
ing " Leap Frog." It would remain, in that case, to show that the Indians 
practise that, to us, familiar game ; we have never caught them at it. 



INTRODUCTORY. 17 

Posinaschucka. Cathedral Rock, a large " cache " of acorns ; evidently from its 
shape resembling that of a large stack or cache of acorns, which the Indians 
are accustomed to build in the trees, in order to secure their stock of food 
from the depredations of wild animals. 

Loya. Sentinel Rock; means an Indian camp, or signal-station, probably. 

Ollenya. Small stream between the Three Brothers and the Yosemite Fall ; 
means' Frog Brook. 

Schotallowi. Indian Cafion ; the gulch between the Yosemite Falls and the 
North Dome. 

TJmmo. Rocks between the Yosemite Falls and Indian Cafion ; means " lost 
arrow." 

Lehamete. Rocks next east of Indian Cafion ; meaning, the place where the 
arrow-wood grows. 

Tokoya. The North Dome ; meaning, the basket, so named on account of its 
rounded basket shape. 

Schokoni. The Royal Arches ; meaning, the shade or cover to an Indian 
cradle-basket, the shape of these rocks being somewhat like that of this 
aboriginal and domestic article. 

Waiya. Mirror Lake. 

Tesaiyak. The Half Dome, generally spelt Tisayac. 

Waijau. Mount Watkins ; meaning, the Pine Mountain. 

Patillima. Glacier Point. 

Tululowehdck. The cafion of the South Fork of the Merced, called the Illi- 
louette in the California Geological Report, that being the spelling given by 
Messrs. King and Gardner, — a good illustration of how difficult it is to 
catch the exact pronunciation of these names. Mr. Hutchings spells it 
Tooluluwack. 

Peiivayak. The Vernal Fall ; meaning, white water ; spelt Piwyack by some. 
Said also to mean sparkling water, or, more poetically, "a shower of crys- 
tals " ; this is the translation of the word Piwyack given by Mr. Cunningham, 
from whom the Indian names for objects in and about the Valley have, 
heretofore, been mostly obtained. 

Scholuck. The Nevada Fall, as given by our interpreter. By others this 
word, or Choolook, as it is often spelt, is used for the Yosemite Fall, 
while Yowiye is used for the Nevada. Perhaps the word " Scholuck " 
3 



18 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

means simply a waterfall. Yowiye is translated by Mr. Cunningham as 
meaning " squirming " or " twisted," in reference to the peculiar shape of 
the Nevada Fall. The discrepancies between the statements of the different 
interpreters it is beyond our power to reconcile. 

A comparison of the above names with those previously published shows 
how difficult it is to get at the real truth where Indian words and their 
pronunciation are concerned. As will be noticed, the very name of the 
Valley itself is uncertain, both as to its origin and orthography. The word 
" Yosemite " means " a full-grown grizzly bear," and is not that by which the 
Valley is at present designated by the Indians ; and how it is that Ahwahnee, 
or Auwoni, the real name, failed to be brought into use, it is now impossible 
to say. Nor is it of much consequence, unless it be to the special student 
of the aboriginal Indian languages. The names given by the early white 
visitors to the region have entirely replaced the native ones ; and they are, in 
general, quite sufficiently euphonious and proper. Some of them, perhaps, 
slightly incline to sentimentality ; for if we recognize the appropriateness of 
the " Bridal Veil " as a designation for the fall called Pohono by the Indians, 
we fail to perceive why the " Virgin's Tears " should be flowing on the oppo- 
site side of the Valley. The Geological Survey has made no changes in the 
nomenclature either in or about the Valley. We have adopted all the names 
which were in well-established use, and added nothing. Only in the High 
Sierra, among the numerous high peaks previously without appellations, we 
have selected a few, to which we have given the names of some of the most 
eminent explorers, geographers, and geologists of this and other countries, as 
will be seen further on in this volume or on reference to the map. This we 
have done, not so much from any desire to impose designations of our own 
selection on the public, but because the dominant peaks, such as are neces- 
sarily selected for topographical stations, were unnamed, and it would have 
been excessively inconvenient for us, in plotting our work and describing 
the country, to be obliged to designate them by numbers. We claim, 
however, a full and ample right, as the first explorers, describers, and map- 
pers of the High Sierra, to give such names as we please to the pre- 
viously unnamed peaks which we locate ; and the names thus given by us 
will be adopted by the civilized and scientific world abroad, however much 



INTRODUCTORY. 19 

our disinclination to bestow on prominent points the names of great politicians 
and editors may be criticised in California.* 

To return to the subject of the history of the discovery and settlement of 
the Yosemite Valley. The visit of the soldiers under Captain Boling led to 
no immediate results in this direction. Some stories told by them on their 
return found their way into the newspapers ; but it was not until four years 
later that, so far as can be ascertained, any persons visited the Valley for the 
purpose of examining its wonders, or as regular pleasure travellers. It is, 
indeed, surprising that so remarkable a locality should not sooner have become 
known ; one would suppose that accounts of its cliffs and waterfalls would 
have spread at once all over the country. Probably they did circulate about 
California, and were not believed, but set down as " travellers' stories." Yet 
these first visitors seem to have been very moderate in their statements, for 
they spoke of the Yosemite Fall as being "more than a thousand feet high," 
thus cutting it down to less than one half its real altitude.! 

Mr. J. M. Hutchings, having heard of the wonderful Valley, and being, in 
1855, engaged in getting together materials to illustrate the scenery of Cali- 
fornia, for the California Magazine, collected a party and made the first 
regular tourists' visit to the Yosemite during the summer of that year. This 
party was followed by another from Mariposa, the same year, consisting of 
sixteen or eighteen persons. The next year (1856) the regular pleasure travel 
commenced, and the trail on the Mariposa side of the Valley, from White and 
Hatch's, was opened by Mann Brothers, at a cost of about $ 700. This trail 
was afterwards purchased for $ 200 by the citizens of the county, and made 
free to the public. 

* The principles we have followed in this Geological Survey, in giving names to prominent natural 
objects, and especially mountains, which had previously been unnamed, are simple, and such as must 
commend themselves to all reasonable people. We have selected for this purpose the names of ex- 
plorers, surveyors, geographers, geologists, and engineers, and especially of such as have worked or 
lived in the region In which the point to be named was situated. When there was no such name to be 
found, or when, if found, it was already in use elsewhere, we have, in a few cases, selected, honoris 
causa, the names of very eminent geographers, geologists, or physicists, who have labored successfully 
in general science, and whose results have thus become the property of the world. 

t An article in the Country Gentleman, for October 9, 1856, gives an account of the Yosemite 
Valley, in which the heights of several points are given with an approach to accuracy ; this article, 
which professes to be based on one in the California Christian Advocate, states that four gentle- 
men were living in the Valley at that time, having taken up "claims" there. 



20 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The first house was built in the Yosemite Valley in the autumn of 1856, 
opposite the Fall of that name ; it is still standing, and is usually known as 
the Lower Hotel. At the locality a little over half a mile farther up the 
Valley a canvas house was built by G. A. Hite in the spring of 1857, and 
in the spring of the next year the present wooden house, now known as 
" Hutchings's Yosemite Hotel," was built by Hite and Beardsley. They kept 
it as a public house during that season, and it afterwards passed into the 
hands of Messrs. Sullivan and Cashman ; it was next kept, in 1859-61, by 
Mr. Peck, then by Mr. Longhurst, and since 1864 by Mr. Hutchings. In 
the spring of 1857 Cunningham and Beardsley had a storehouse and shop just 
above the present Hutchings Hotel. The Lower Hotel was kept by John Reed 
in 1857, and by Mr. Cunningham from 1858 to 1861 ; it remained vacant 
for a couple of years, and was then taken by Mr. G. F. Leidig, who has kept 
it during the season of travel for the past three or four years. 

Previous to 1864, the only actual settler and permanent resident in the 
Valley was Mr. J. C. Lanion, who took up his lonely quarters there in 1860. 
Many persons had been there during the summer, and numerous "claims" had 
been made, which were, of course, invalid under United States laws, as they 
were not accompanied by permanent residence, neither had the land ever been 
surveyed and brought into market, so that it was not open to pre-emption. ' 

At the time that the Governor's proclamation was issued, taking possession 
of the Valley, and appointing Commissioners to protect and manage it, there 
were several residents and numerous claimants to various portions of the 
Valley and to " improvements " which had been made there.. These claim- 
ants the Commissioners were disposed to treat, and to recommend to be 
treated by the State, with all possible consideration. They went to the extent 
of their powers by offering Messrs. Hutchings and Lamon leases for ten years 
of the premises occupied by them, at a nominal rent. This liberal offer these 
gentlemen saw fit to decline, believing that they could work upon public 
sympathy, and in some way influence the Legislature to grant them better 
terms, or perhaps even to look with favor on their pretensions to get posses- 
sion of the Valley and hold it in fee simple. They appeared before the 
Legislature of 1867-68, — the next one to that which had accepted the Con- 
gressional grant, — and succeeded in procuring the passage of a bill giving them 
each 160 acres of land, and asking Congress to confirm this action. It is now 



INTRODUCTORY. 



21 



=*ar- "2" B Q r-» 

p8fcTl 3 3!5 

-2.8- •*».?! 




feS s 

- : 

" » o 

a *> u. 

H 



5_:«?gS2 .-fS^H^p-fcggte eft fig*! 

H fli^lifiP^t^-s5f!s]iE= : ^ss 

which are so universal ax an piuocn— en — g^o 



" 3 

■v. ay 

?3P ~ = ^ MM ^D 



25 '■= 



c r. 3 tg r . o 
■» c S -! e» ►, or> 



;* 



Yosemite Valley, instead of being " a joy forever," will become, like Niagara 
Falls, a gigantic institution for fleecing the public. The screws will be put 
on just as fast as the public can be educated into bearing the pressure. In- 
stead of having every convenience for circulation in and about the Valley, — 
free trails, roads, and bridges, with every facility offered for the enjoyment of 
Nature in the greatest of her works, unrestrained except by the requirements 
of decency and order, — the public will find, if the ownership of the Valley 



5 *■§£§■* § ggS.Ss'S 



v « 9 



„ ©JC 

« c . 

-♦J O Z) 0) ~s 

3 3 — ^ rt 

6£>T3 u " S 

a c 3 » 
g a, .X3-S 

i « « o s 

C G a* c; ^ 

•ft ">- „> 

g*« 3 >~ 

y C n* — . ~» 



g ,a 3 w a o 
g<^ *j « M t, a g 
o 2 m — o c Ji 

©~b S s s. _ o-a 



_!^ j_ m aj O t- o 




/A 23 ! a '^J^.«»- C ) U-,.^ 



M — -- — •-* — 

r- -t< 3 C 3 O >, 3 O S 

- O S "• h 3 Q, 
Q.. 61 „ ©"O 4 9 .. 



— • cxU o 



*» M 3 



as o >. 



t. o g to c 1 "^- H o 

C9 JTJ " c .~ t/>,3 

. *- £J M *~ ^> — -~ 

it »S *-'S«£ 

8 £ * 5 « 3 - s ^ 



. « ^ °° a ft ^ • 



djCai . .s 3 i; o ~ 



— ^ > ft a ~- •• ** 
O — » C O n r-^ 

& o y c~ ' 



= ;T3 

A ! 3 



8 b St » g a^ g 
s £8 a/team's 8.5! 



2S.=TP o = 



a, a kjs^oi^ 

f S §3'§l|s" 5 «sg5^ v~^-~* § £ o <« &5 ^.^ 



pg- 2 



ft » • c 



io ? 






<->— ° i; " 



^ 



a oj 3 o 



TO ore en 




been granted to such respectable parties as might apply for them, and 
multiplying facilities on every side would meet the increase of travel. 



I'l'udicii [j, , 



CAI.IFOu.NlA L KXTitAVAGA.\CE. 
How Sodden ttlcba, Yndu 

1 foro the San Pranelaeo Alta, Oct, 

or all peoples thy most extravagant are the 
Californiang. They not onlv yoend ui.-n- abM,- 

lutely because ihey earn more, but they swori 
more relatively. Tbegreat motive ofeconon* 
—fear of the future— is much weaker here 
tf.au elsewhere. A large part of the popula- 
tion are solitary men, who think that no 
matter wlial pecuniary loss may overtake them 
they can always earn a living, and soon accu- 
mulate a little money again. Poverty is ndi 
accompanied by the same privations or the 
■'' : " 30i tal discredit here as in older comoiu- 
' i; ■ The Callfornfan who has conducted 
hi! ' ■ II ■ a gentleman knows that manv of 
"'■ old Acquaintances, even if tbey were 'not 
his friends when he was prosperous, will give 
hiin;ud in bin need, ft is not in them to turn 
their back.s; sentiment and custom require 
them to be generous. The frequency of the 
great and sudden changes from poverty to 
wealth, and from wealth to poverty, breeds a 
Peeling of obligation to one another. Manv 
unfortunates do not get the benefit of this 
mutual helpfulness, but others do, and it 
influences the general mode of life. 

The tendency of the business of California 
toward speculation has the effect of stimu- 
lating people to immediate enjoyment. Be- 
[ore the completion of the telegraph across 
the continent merchandising was full of large 
risks and sudden turns. A few weeks might 
see a change from a scarcity to a glut, or from 
a glut toascarcity. There' was no regularity 
in prices or supplies. After the open- 
ing of the Coma.tOCk Lode, the shares J 
were thrown into the San Francisco i 
market, and, by their remarkable fluc- 
tuations, became its most remarkable feature. 
The rapid rise in city lots and agricultural 
i lanes, under the influence of great additions ' 

i" the population, added to the fondness for ' 
oolQ pecuniary ventures. Never aid any 
country offer buitsso numerous or so seductive 
to the gambling appetite, which is strong in 
human nature, and usually breaks out strongly 
wherever it has a chance. A government '. 
that does not prohibit lotteries and gambling 
games— even those conducted honestly. a"s I 
many have been, on the principle of giviii" 
only fifty or .seventy-five cents in return for ' 
SI— :1a justly considered un accomplice in the 
impoverishment of the people. 

The spirit of '4!) has died out. Many of 
those who were here in the flush era of the 
early placer mining have not freed themselves 
from its influence. Our local experience has 
proved that nothing does so ruin men gener- 
ally as a sudden change to high wages. There 
never was a more extravagant, wasteful, and 
dissipated set of men than the old 
placer miners. They who had been 
sober and industrious, and had saved 
money when they earned $16 a month, 
before coining to California, became idle 
and drunken, and saved nothing when they 
earned $200. They spent as fast as they made 
their monev. This was not the universal 
rule, but the custom was more common than 
elsewhere. Poverty is the mother at' enuiumy 
The barren soil of Scotland and New England 
and the pitiful little farms of France are the 
best breeding places for thrift. Wellington 

fort, and a Spanish army in luxury, with 
supplies on which an English army would 
. ■ 
The evidences of Call torn ian extravagance 
are to be seen on every side. The dwellings, 
furniture, tables, and dress of the people in- 
dicate very liberal expenditure. San Fran- 
cisco has the reputation of buying the most 
costly wines, cigars, and silks. A saying, not 
deserving to be dignified as a proverb, declares 
that "New York dresses better that Paris, and 
San Francisco better than New York.'* The 
magnificent hotels, and the palaces of a dozen 
millionaires, are unsurpassed, if equaled, by 
anything short of royalty in the luxury I 
of tbeir appointments. There is a lar«e l 
demand for the best that can be I 
had. California consumes 20,000 dozen of! 
genuine sparkling wine annually, and the At- ; 
lantic slope, with fifty times as many people, . 
does not consume seven times as much cham- 
pagne. California usea sixty pounds of sugar 
to the person in a year, the Atlantic slope 
■ ■ ■ ' ■ . ■ aii ■ 

Holland each twenty, and Italy seven. Coffee j 
is sold to the extent of one pound each for the ! 
inhabitant in Great Britain and Italy, three iii 
■ ■- 1 1 in Holland, ten in this State, 

aud seven in the other States, of ten, 
the average California!! drinks six 
pounds in a twelvemonth, the other American ' 
two, the Briton four, the Frenchman and 
Italian less than a quarter of a pound. The 
figures for the consumption of many other 
articles of comfortand luxury are incomplete, 
a large proportion of our imports coming 
through New York and paying duty there, 

i being forwarded to California under cir- 

i-iin. tauces that leave no opportunity 
tain their value or amount. 
Though it consumes largely of foreign 
mported at New York, with one-fif- 
tieth of the population, it pays one-thirtieth 
of the customs at Sau Francisco, and the 
msumption of foreign products isal 
least twice as great bere as on the Atlantic 
slope. The extravagance of which we have 
spoken is not confined to a few; it is charac- 
teristic of the community generally, and it is 
; worse, relatively, among the poor than the 
i rich. Many ol the wealthy families owe their 
city of life more than to large 
■■ . 



TERIDS OP THfc TERRAS 



Tiie o« 






oil Bouth Dome of ttio Yotetnlto In 
,»«*. It lias hitherto been n<r-cr toil 

■ Its summit .was an iuitinssiLiiiiu-. 

■ lDth b<H1. visitors ami resident! m 
i in- vfiuev wore thrown Into a state ofexolti men I 
upon It being n.m.to known that a SoohiliaifMl 

A puny or tho Encliah tonrisls conch, do .J 
thoy woulll Judgo ror themselves by visiting tl e 
epo. Those who have been mere know irm Vn.1 
of riding necessary to rear* il, e base of its n,o ",- 
bl lZ ,lch ftl es somc e - m foel a >"»-° Hie lOTelol 
5 111 ,&h» Th ° "°.7 * P ""' i like "IMIlre tn°f 
tbo Brinshois would attempt tbc ascent Ata 
!"»«; J? Snt„r.ln, ; , the 16th ol September? a 
KB. . f v ". n "'venturers. hoaW by do,.'™ 
Anderson > acted from Black's Hotel upon their 
the VeJn'.f. „'!■!.."„", J"" l"™IP't0ll3 heigh.,, p„. ,, 
i elrre, ?,,„,; ^"''i lr «"»;"btl S'niek the lit- 
tlc-rreu,,, n,e,[ [i-.nl In South Dome. On machine 
the heavy massos of fallen granite known V, In 
(•'Camel's Back." they .li,nf„nn!e?l. ■ ,?" after a 
brief rost a low conimenoo.l ihe dan-orntis ■ limb 
to the foot of the nomo. The Scotch,,, V,, ,,,',"! 
Otst. Ai the party assembled at the foot of an 

almost parpen, l.„ rook, which is, acceding 

to Professor Whitney's calculation al least 1 Too 
feet high, they looked with d,„n.. ° at .1 o lonroer 
before them. Georgo Anderson Seen eiDtaln 
that as bo climbed be bad borod holes In tho rock 
and inserted Iron cyc-bolts. To those ere-bolh] 
no had secured a rope, and those who wotild ve, ! 

Hire 10 climb, In,!. lies tho r„|,„s „ [ , |, ,|„ ., ,. ,, , ,„ ,, 

»'" 1 P'?-"« ~k with', heir feel,,,,",, do 

so providing thi.i, .trengtli Inbi nur in perfect 
earcty. Two of the Englishmen sal, It n light 
be good run in walking „J walls, but they "," in' t 
feel hko trying." Anderson, however with a 
cheer, went ahead. There -was a n omnnt'a besi 
tnllon, then, with ashnn. or enthusiasm .! if 
the crowd rushed forward to the rope I ™, I 
first secured by two young- Englishmen nnnToil 
, iThei i.r'e^'lVW 1 ^ co °>"'<"'™d the escalndo. 
Tbey were followed by another rejoioing In tho 
I name of Gammon. Then Mr. Slnreland, a* i," 

I = an ,' ""' »;'■ "'lli'v'1 elo.ely by West, a guide 

, run tho valley. These wore allowed to work 
■their war up, lost tho rone should break Mr 
Liedlg, of 11,0 valley, thenVent up fellowod I ,V 
5?i?o'» 3 m,?5°" , S r E ° ! " sh """""■ Anderson 
now looked like a fly crawling in tho distance as 
he rapidly distanced his pursuers, s,„„,i„ 
words of encouragement ns they cautiously 
made tholr way upyvard. Sometimes they 
stopped, holding on convulsively to tie rooo 
and the oyobolt until ihey could oontinno im I 
the dizzy height. Air. tiedlg tur e 1 .lek 

Iff £fJ'^,' l UT'",°\' ''"""' '""' '» 

all the do lars In California he could not have 
gone runner. Tho .poctators now waited aux 
lously for Ihnao who had gained tho siimmlt and 

the signal of tholr safety. They now commenced 
to ?h"„"bn« I!"'""," 1 -, ' l0 "° ,'he "Camel™ Back" 
to the horses and ihoso who had not cared to 

capos. Mr. Groom, after an involuniarv roll nt 
'1?<\^T° ?.' '" 8 ° tJ "f'rtudaonly found him- 
•"'•""I °»" a l'teclpioo between two and 
lirco thuusand-loet deep Into Ihe velley bolow 
lle had alldden so rar down the rock that, ivlt!: 
out the aid of ropes, he could not return. To ad. 
vijnce was almost certain deaih of a most hor- 
rlblo naluie. None understood tho terrible 
agony or Ins cries for help. Ills 
sole support wna a narrow ledge of grnniin 
to which he held on with tie *rfm U- 
dty of a man who rlgbta for lire. But his 
...ength could not laat, nn,l with a loud err h" 
rolled headlong down, down, as ho be° von In ^ 
eternity. But In throwing his arm. torwar I i! 

on '°i',„!r,:"w,"."°, ? ",'"»' "y »"i°h he'ii'e" 
on. lloio ho was able to lake advantage of a 
»l"l"; iii'ho rock, aud with the calves of his legs 
Se m 'ri S ','""" '!" »?'■'"»' himself dovfowart III a 
flrrafootlng, Ho afterward reached Ihe base of 
lie mountain 11 safety. We think that one, at 
least, of then, Englishmen will remember the as- 
cent of the South lionic. Soon aftei this incident 
Ueort'O Anderson and Ihe adventurers who had I 
r.'ilowed hnu roliirned safely, Three cheers were 
given and ihe parties commenced tho descent to 
ihe v ,il,y. Audoi son has performed a teat which I 
has scarcely a paiallel in any country. A sub- ' 
;, , l|,,,,,i bin already been opened for Ills benefit 
m the yalloy, in order to enablo him to build a 
seeure 5 ,„,,, ise lor those who will iu futuio ns- 
ceud the Dome tinder his guidance. 



1 55 K> £ o a 



1 *-: £ 







op P ( 
the 
> al.-- j 

in *3_.a»SJ:*^~ £?"*\»5 Oct ■ «\r 



a ~ s> a ■» = o £. ai<-. 

"8(« : 



SS o Jr 

a "3 
o ■» ° o. 

- >- — s 



«B w a : = g B 

•e* g- a r.Cc w £= a 



~ ^r?: 



o ^ ^ 



a a 



■3 3 












3<?»2, 












5*3 

a> A 



S^ B 



Co ® 



~2t» 



w a'*l 

iff 



S o_ a-- = - coo- °-re— D™an 

Sag 51 




in 1857, and by Mr. Cunningham from lfc>D8 to loru 

for a couple of years, and was then taken by Mr. G. F. Leidig, who has kept 

it during the season of travel for the past three or four years. 

Previous to 1864, the only actual settler and permanent resident in the 
Valley was Mr. J. C. Lamon, who took up his lonely quarters there in 1860. 
Many persons had been there during the summer, and numerous "claims" had 
been made, which were, of course, invalid under United States laws, as they 
^^^-i^L-jiwroiment^ residence, neither had the land ever been 




sion of the 



CO 

— • — - ' ■ t^ ** - 
Legislature of 1867-68, — the next one to that which had accepted the Con- 
gressional grant, — and succeeded in procuring the passage of a bill giving them 
each 160 acres of land, and asking Congress to confirm this action. It is now 



o _° -■ ■■>■ a ?-a 5 
X & a-oa a h=5 

.-a=-ca-^^ = . 
OSS t»o Si? f g 



BTBO00CTOBY. -1 

■ I, however, that, by some clerical • \ thi> bill did n« >t actually 

become a law. B« thai u it may, thii action of the Legislature of California 
came up in Congress for indorsement, and a l>ill or reaolutiou to that effect 
did actually paw the Bouse : but, reaching tl imfavorably 

reported on, and left "n til<- for future action. What tin- action may be it 
is, of course, impossible to iayj l>ut wli.it the result will be, if the i » i 1 1 pusses, 
it will oot 1"' difficult to predict. The ^ Valley, instead of being held 

by the State for the benefit of the people, and "fot public us.-, resort, and 
pleasure," aa wai solemnly promised, will Iwcoino the property "t' pr 
individuals, ami will l><- held and managed for private benefit and not for the 
public good. As the tide of travel in tin- direction of this wonderful and 
unique locality increases, so will the relations, restraints, and annoying chai 
which are to universal at all places of great resort, be multiplied, and the 

nut,' Valley, instead of being "a jqj ." will i 

Palls, intio institution for fleecing the public. Thi put 

mi jusi te 'In' public can !"• educated into bearing tl ire. In- 

stead of having everj convenience for circulation in and about the Valley, — 
free traiU, roads, and bridges, with every facility offered for the enjoyment 
Nature in tfa : her works, unrestrained except by the requiremi 

nt" decency and order, the public will find, if the ownership of the Valley 

ea into private hands, that opportunity will he taken to levy t«>ll 
point of riew, on every trail, on everj bridge, and ry turning, while 

there will be do inducement to do anything for the public accommodation, 

pt that which may be made immediately available as a new means of 
raising a tax on the unfortunate traveller. Had the liberal policy inaugurated 
by the Legislature which accepted the grant (that of 181 tied 

out by its successor, -a policy which involved only unall expenditure 

of money, — during the past seaion new trails and bridges would have ' 
built, affording free ry point of interest, and the present ooou- 

panta of the Valley would have been in undisturbed >n of their 

premises, where they might remain so I they were willing to conform 

to the few simple regulations of the Commissioners, forbidding wanton dan 
to the trees, shrubs, and flowers I il>le terms, would have 

been granted to such respectable parties :1 s might apply for them, and 
multiplying facilities on every side would meet the increase of travel. 



22 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

It has been argued that the Valley is large, and that the ceding of a 
couple of j>atches of only 160 acres each to private parties will have no 
seriously injurious consequences, — the bulk of the land would still remain in 
the hands of the Commissioners, to be managed for the benefit of the public. 
But there are only a little more than 1,100 acres of land in the Valley, 
within the rocky talus, or debris fallen from the walls, and of this only a 
small portion is valuable land for pasturage and cultivation, as well as 
desirable on account of its convenience of situation. Thus the holders of 320 
acres of land judiciously selected would, in point of fact, have almost a 
monopoly of the Valley, especially as they would not be hampered by any 
restrictions, and would be above all control by the Commissioners. But, more 
than this, the whole Valley is already claimed, and if two of the claimants 
are to have their requests granted, the rest must be placed on the same 
footing ; there would be neither justice nor reason in conceding 160 acres 
each to Messrs. Lamon and Hutchings, and not doing as much for others who 
made claims before either of these gentlemen. The whole Valley must be 
inevitably given up to the claimants, if any portion of it is ; and the Com- 
missioners woidd recommend that this should be done, in case Messrs. Lamon 
and Hutchings succeed in making good their pretensions. It would be entirely 
useless to attempt to exercise any useful control over the premises, with so 
large a portion of them withdrawn from supervision and placed in charge of 
irresponsible persons. 

The State of California has, through its Legislature, assumed the responsi- 
bility and the guardianship of the grants of the Valley and the Big Tree 
Grove ; she has solemnly promised to hold them " inalienable for all time." 
She has no right to attempt to withdraw from the responsibility she has 
voluntarily assumed. The equitable claims of the settlers in the Valley can 
be abundantly made good by a small amount of money, and it is astonishing 
that the great State of California should seek to avoid the performance of her 
agreement, — to repudiate her obligations,- — merely to avoid the payment of the 
small sum which may be equitably due the parties who have been deprived, 
by the joint action of the State and of Congress, of their power to obtain, at 
some future time, a right in fee simple to the land they occupied. Legal 
rights these parties have not ; the land had never been surveyed and opened 
to pre-emption. Their case is like that of thousands of others who have 



INTRODUCTORY. 23 

settled on the public land before it was surveyed, and who have afterwards 
been ousted by the General Government, when the ground they occupied was 
required for purposes of public good. 

No : the Yosemite Valley is a unique and wonderful locality ; it is an 
exceptional creation, and as such has been exceptionally provided for 
jointly by the Nation and the State, — it has been made a National public 
park; and placed under the charge of the State of California. Let Californians 
beware how they make the name of their State a byword and reproach for 
all time, by trying to throw off and repudiate a noble task which they under- 
took to perform, — that of holding the Yosemite Valley as a place of public 
use, resort, and recreation, inalienable for all time ! 



24 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL. 

That portion of the North American Continent which lies -within the 
borders of the United States (leaving out of consideration the remote and 
isolated region now known as Alaska) presents to the traveller crossing it 
from east to west, in the pathway along which civilization has advanced, 
three well-marked grand divisions, which may he called the Eastern, Middle, 
and Western. On the East, we have the broad belt of the Appalachian chain 
of mountains, determining the general direction of the coast line, made up of 
a series of closely compacted wrinkles of the earth's crust, of no great eleva- 
tion, never in its highest peaks quite reaching 7,000 feet, very uniform in 
direction and elevation over long distances, densely wooded, and offering in 
its fei-tile valleys and on its gently rising slopes every possible advantage of 
soil, forest, and water to benefit the settler. This series of ranges does not, 
however, rise at once from the edge of the Atlantic, but is prepared for, as 
it were, by a plain gently sloping upwards as we go west, and forming what 
is called the Atlantic Seaboard. This plain is about fifty miles wide in New 
England, where it is not so strongly marked a feature as farther south, in 
which direction it gains in width, extending as much as two hundred miles 
back from the sea in North and South Carolina. Leaving the seaboard, we 
rise among the Appalachian ranges, which form a belt of mountains averaging, 
perhaps, a hundred miles in width. Crossing this belt, and the broken foot- 
hill country which borders it on the west, forming the eastern side of Ohio, 
Kentucky, and Tennessee, we come in our western progress to the great 
central valley of the Continent, — the region drained by the Mississippi and 
the Missouri and their tributaries. At Pittsburg, the head of the Ohio 
proper, we are at an elevation of 699 feet above the sea-level ; descending this 
river, we find ourselves, at its mouth and junction with the Mississippi, at 
275 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, the average fall of the last-named river 



GENERAL. 25 

in that part of its course from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf being only 
three inches per mile. In following down the Ohio we are skirting the 
southern border of the region of prairies, the garden of the Continent, of 
which nearly the whole of Illinois may be taken as the type. Crossing the 
Mississippi, and still pursuing our westward course, we follow up the Missouri 
to the western line of the State of the same name, where the river bends to 
the north and leaves us the choice, if we wish to keep 'on directly west, of 
one of its great branches coming in from that direction, — the Platte and the 
Kansas. Up either of these we may travel for more than 500 miles, gradu- 
ally and imperceptibly rising, an unbroken horizon in the distance, and a vast 
plain on either hand, absolutely destitute of trees, except along the banks 
of the streams, b\it abounding in nutritious grasses, the food of herds of 
buffaloes, once almost countless in numbers, but now rapidly disappearing 
before the rifle and the rail. These broad, almost endless seas of grazing-land 
are "the plains," not at all to be confounded with the "prairies." The plains 
form the western side of the great central valley, a region where, from clima- 
tological causes which cannot here be set forth, there is a great scarcity of 
rain, the amount of the annual precipitation diminishing rapidly as we go 
westward from the Mississippi River, until, between the 100th and 105th me- 
ridians it is no more than fifteen inches, or only one third of what it is near 
the meridian of 90°, in the centre of the great valley. 

The edge of the great tangle of mountains which makes up the western 
third of our territory is encountered by the traveller coming from the east, 
after passing over a thousand miles in width of the central valley, in longi- 
tude 103°, if he strikes the Black Hills, in latitude 44° ; or in 105°, if he 
follows up the Platte and finds himself at the base of the Rock}- Mountains 
proper. From here west he will thread his way through narrow and intricate 
defiles, wind around or cross over innumerable spurs and ridges, traverse 
narrow valleys and occasional broad plains, the former sometimes green and 
attractive, the latter always arid and repulsive to the last degree ; he will 
never descend below 4,000 feet above the sea-level, and will never be out of 
sight of mountains ; these will always environ him, with thinly wooded flanks, 
and sterile and craggy summits, often glistening with great patches of snow, 
which gradually lessen as the summer advances. In the distance these moun- 
tain ranges, behind their atmosphere of purple haze, will seem massive and 
4 



26 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

uniform in character; as he approaches each one, he will find it presenting 
some new charm of hidden valley or caiion deeply countersunk into the 
mountain side. As he rises still higher, he will quench his thirst at the 
refreshing spring of pure water fed by the melting snow above, while the 
grandeur of the rocky masses, the purity of the air, the solitariness and 
the almost infinite extent of the panorama opened before him, when he fairly 
reaches the summit, will leave upon his mind an ineffaceable impression of 
the peculiar features of our western mountain scenery. It is through and 
over these mountain ranges, passing north of Salt Lake, and striking the 
Humboldt Eiver, which traverses the western side of the Great Basin at 
right-angles to the general direction of the chain, that the Pacific Railroad 
threads its way across the Continent. 

This great mass of mountains, which fills the space between the 105th 
meridian and the Pacific Ocean so completely that it must be considered as a 
geographical unit, demands a distinct name by which it may be designated as 
a whole, as the geographer has every day occasion to do. The term "Rocky 
Mountains " has long been in use for a portion of its eastern border, and the 
" Sierra Nevada " and " Cascade Range " are equally well known appellations 
of the western edge of the great mass ; while the almost innumerable broken 
and partially, but never quite, detached masses which fill up the interior 
receive their distinctive names as fast as they become known to the explorer 
or the settler. There is no name for the whole series of ranges, however ; 
although in former days the term Rocky Mountains was more generally used 
than any other ; but in the progress of exploration and geographical discovery 
this designation has become fully fixed on the group of ranges which sur- 
rounds the Parks in Colorado, Northern New Mexico, and Wyoming. Taken 
collectively, all the mountains bordering on the Pacific coast of America, from 
Cape Horn to the North Polar Sea, have been and still are by some geogra- 
phers designated as " The Cordilleras," * a Spanish word signifying chains of 
mountains. The South American portion of the series was distinguished as 
the Cordilleras of the Andes, those of North America having no special 
designatory word corresponding to Andes, but being somewhat vaguely known 
as the Cordilleras of Mexico or of North America. As, in the progress of 

* See Humboldt's " Aspects of Nature," English Edition, Vol. I. p. 56. 



GENERAL. 27 

time, the name Andes has become firmly established in use as a general one 
for all the South American chains bordering the Pacific, without the additional 
word Cordilleras, I propose to use this exclusively for the North American 
chains, and, hereafter, to designate the great mass of mountains occupying the 
western side of the American Continent as The Cordilleras, and trust that 
other geographers will see the propriety of the suggestion, and concur with me 
in adopting it. There is a greater propriety in using the word Cordilleras 
for the mass of North American mountains than for those of South America, 
for the latter are far more simple in their structure, being made up of a few 
great ranges, and not of a great number of smaller ones (Cordilleras) as on 
the northern division of the Continent. 

The great region of the Cordilleras was pretty much a terra incognita only 
a quarter of a century ago. The explorations of Bonneville (1832 -3G) shed 
the first light on the region known as the Great Basin, and those of Fremont, 
a few years later (1842-45), made that generally known which had previously 
only been surmised, and laid a foundation, by an approximate determination 
of the latitude and longitude of a considerable number of important points, 
for a map of the central portion of the Cordilleras. Lewis and Clarke had 
previously (1805 - 7) made known the outlines of the geography of the 
country about the Upper Missouri and the Columbia Bivers, at the same time 
that Pike was exploring the head of the Arkansas River. 

But little progress was made, however, towards anything like a reliable or 
complete map of the region west of the Rocky Mountains, until after the 
annexation of California to the United States and the discovery of gold in 
that region had given so prodigious an impetus to emigration to the Pacific 
coast, and led to a universal desire for railroad communication across the 
Continent, in place of the long and dangerous route by the Isthmus of 
Panama, or the tedious ride over the plains. The work of exploring a route 
for a Pacific railroad along several parallels of latitude, between Oregon on 
the north and Arizona on the south, was begun in 1853, and continued 
through that and the succeeding year by a considerable number of surveying 
parties, in charge of United States Engineer officers. The geographical results 
of these expeditions, with all the other material of this kind which could be 
collected from every possible soiuce, were compiled into one general map by 
the United States Engineer Bureau, under the direction of Lieutenant (now 



28 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

General) Warren. This map, which has been altered and corrected so many 
times at the Engineer Office, since its first appearance, in 1857, as to have 
become almost a new one, is the principal source from which compilers and 
publishers draw their matei'ial for maps of the Pacific States and Territories ; 
but the study of it, by those familiar with the topography of portions of the 
region which it covers, will not fail to convince such persons that it can only 
be considered as a first rough sketch, nearly the whole of which must eventu- 
ally give way to more reliable and accurate materials. The topographical 
work of the Central Pacific Kailroad, done for the purpose of getting informa- 
tion for definitely locating its road, and the labors of the California Geological 
Survey, have already brought together a large amount of valuable material, 
which can be made available for improving the official map of the Engineer 
Bureau, and the results of the expedition now in the field under the direction 
of Mr. Clarence King will add still further of reliable information in regard 
to the geography of a considerable portion of the region in question. 

The necessity of a good map of the Cordilleras will become more and more 
evident after the completion of the Pacific Railroad, which event will, no doubt, 
be followed by a great increase of travel, and especially of pleasure-travel, 
across the Continent. Four or five days from New York, or three from 
Chicago, will bring travellers into the high mountain region ; and thousands 
who have already visited the Alps will seek for new impressions, and a new 
revelation of nature among the Cordilleras, rather than go over the old 
European ground a second or third time. Many English travellers for pleas- 
ure, among whom some, no doubt, of the renowned climbers of the Alpine 
Club will be found, will try their wind and muscle in a new field, and find 
health and excitement in climbing peaks which are yet unsealed, and in 
exploring regions where no foot of white man has ever been set. The inhabi- 
tants of the Mississippi Valley will seek refuge from the intense heat of 
summer among the lofty ranges of the no longer remote Pacific States ; the 
invalid from the Eastern slope will exchange the cold, damp east wind for the 
invigorating mountain breeze, and will obtain a new lease of life while 
acquiring a knowledge of Nature's sublimest handiwork. For re-establishing the 
worn-out constitution, bracing up the shattered nerves, and bringing relief to 
the wearied soul, there is no panacea equal to mountain life and mountain 
scenery, taken in large doses, on the spot ; and it is pleasant to think that 



GENERAL. 29 

we shall have the medicine at our own door hereafter, and not be obliged to 
cross the water in search of it. Besides, as a means of mental development, 
there is nothing which will compare with the study of Nature as mani- 
fested in her mountain handiwork. Nothing so refines the ideas, purifies the 
heart, and exalts the imagination of the dweller on the plains, as an occa- 
sional visit to the mountains. It is not good to dwell always among them, 
for "familiarity breeds contempt." The greatest peoples have not been those 
who lived on the mountains, but near them. One must cany something of 
culture to them, to receive all the benefits they can bestow in return. 

But it is especially to California mountains and mountain scenery that this 
volume is dedicated, and to a small portion of these that it is to be more 
exclusively devoted, so that we must not tarry longer on the way to them. 

Every one, be his acquaintance with the geography of our western border 
ever so slight, has at least some indistinct idea of the existence in California 
of two great masses of mountains, one called the Coast Ranges, the other the 
Sierra Nevada. The traveller, passing up the valley of the Sacramento or the 
San Joaquin, observes at a distance of twenty or thirty miles, on either hand, 
a continuous wall of mountains, which may appear in the dim distance, to 
the inexperienced eye, as a simple narrow uplift; both of these apparent walls 
are, in reality, broad belts of elevated ranges, the one averaging forty the 
other seventy miles in width, of which the detailed structure is exceedingly 
complicated, and whose grand dimensions can only be appreciated by those 
who have penetrated to their deepest recesses. On the cast, we have the 
Sierra Nevada ; on the west, the Coast Ranges, — the one not inaptly to be 
parallelized, in general extent and average elevation, with the Alps ; the other 
but little inferior, in the same respects, to the Appalachian chain, — two 
grand features of the earth's surface which have for so many years occupied 
the attention of scientific observers and lovers of natural scenery. Of the 
eastern series of ranges, the most distant and loftiest elevations are never 
entirely bare of snow, and for a large portion of the year are extensively 
covered with it ; the western ones, on the other hand, in the central portion 
of the State at least, have their highest peaks whitened for a few days only, 
during the coldest and stormiest winters. Hence the eastern heights were, 
long since, known to the Spaniards as the " Sierra Nevada," or " Snowy 
Range," Sierra being the almost exact equivalent of our word range, or moun- 



30 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

tain chain. The group of mountains on the western side and nearer the 
ocean naturally received the designation of " Coast Ranges " or Coast Mountains, 
the many subordinate ranges of which it is made up having received from 
the early Mexican-Spanish settlers the names of different saints, nearly 
exhausting the calendar. 

The coast line of California, extending over ten degrees of latitude, or from 
near 32° to 42°, has a regular northwestern trend between the parallels of 35° 
and 40°, and the same regularity is found repeated in the interior features 
of the country between the same parallels. And, in order to bring vividly 
before the mind the grand simplicity of the topographical features of this 
part of the State, we may draw on the map five equidistant parallel lines, 
having a direction of 1ST. 31° W., and 55 miles apart. Let the middle one of 
these be drawn at the western base of the Sierra Nevada ; it will touch the 
edge of the foot-hills all along from Visalia to Red Bluff, a distance of nearly 
400 miles. The first parallel east of this, drawn at 55 miles' distance, will 
pass through, or very near, the highest points of the Sierra Nevada from Mount 
Shasta on the north to Mount Whitney on the south. This line, running 
through the dominating peaks of the Sierra, and which is a very nearly 
straight one for 500 miles in length, we have called, in the California Geolog- 
ical Report, the main axial line of the State. Again, parallel to this on the 
east and at about the same constant distance of 55 miles from the summit, 
of the Sierra, we find our line crossing a series of depressions, mostly occupied 
by lakes, which we may consider as representing the eastern base of the 
range. West of the great central valley, the fourth of our imaginary lines 
touches the eastern base of the Coast Ranges, and the fifth will approximately 
indicate the position of the edge of the Pacific, which is, of com-se, the 
western base of the same mountains. 

This arrangement of lines indicates a division of the central portion of the 
State into four belts of nearly equal width, and which are indeed the best 
recognized features of its geography ; they are known to all, mentioning them 
in their order from east to west, as the Eastern Slope, the Sierra, the Great 
Valley (or the Valley of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin,) and the Coast 
Ranges. The indicated arrangement holds good for a distance of 400 miles 
through the centre of the State, and through that portion of California which 
is by far the most important, both from an agricultural and mining point of 



GENERAL. 31 

view. Central California, as this division may properly be called, does not 
embrace over one third of the area of the State ; but it holds at least 95 per 
cent of its population. The regions or divisions on each side of this central 
one are extremely mountainous and thinly inhabited. The southern portion is 
traversed by numerous broken ranges as yet but little explored, but charac- 
terized by extreme sterility, owing to the want of watei", so that a large part 
can only be considered as an unmitigated desert. A narrow belt along the 
ocean, however, is more favored by climatic causes, and contains some tracts 
which are of unrivalled beauty and fertility. The northern division, again, is 
even more mountainous than the southern, portions of it being almost inac- 
cessible. Along the coast and in much of the interior it is very heavily 
timbered ; while, towards the eastern boundary of the State, it begins to 
exhibit the dryness and sterility characteristic of the Great Basin. It is a 
wild, rough region ; and no small portion of it is pretty much given up to 
its aboriginal inhabitants, who have thus far held their own against the 
encroachments of the whites with pertinacity and no little success. 

The Coast Eanges inosculate with the Sierra Nevada both north and south. 
In the neighborhood of the Tejon Pass, which is in about latitude 35°, the 
ridges of the two systems become topographically undistinguishable from each 
other ; and it was only by careful examination of the position of the strata 
that we could discover where one system began and the other ended. So too, on 
the north, above Shasta City (latitude 40° 35'), the ranges close in on all sides, 
and to the traveller threading the innumerable canons, there seems to be no 
clew to the labyrinth of chains, and no possibility of preserving the distinction 
between Coast Range and Sierra. But passing north into Oregon, we come, 
in latitude 44°, to the Willamette Valley, which here forms as marked a 
separation between the two systems of mountains as do the Sacramento or 
San Joaquin in California. Geologically, the Coast Ranges are made up of 
newer formations than the Sierra, and they have been subjected to great 
disturbances up to a very recent (geological) period. There are no rocks in 
the Coast Ranges older than the Cretaceous ; strata of this and the Tertiary 
age making up nearly their whole body, with some masses of volcanic and 
granitic materials, neither, however, forming anything like a central nucleus 
or core. 

The Coast Ranges do not exhibit any very lofty dominating peaks. The 



32 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

highest point in sight from San Francisco is Mount Hamilton, about fifteen 
miles east of San Jose; this is 4,440 feet high, or just 10,000 feet less than 
Mount Shasta. Still it does not rise conspicuously above the range jn its 
vicinity, and it needs a sharp eye to pick it out at a little distance. Monte 
Diablo, although 584 feet lower (its elevation being 3,856 feet) is a much 
more conspicuous object, since it is quite isolated on the north side, owing to 
the great break in the range, which extends from the Golden Gate entirely 
across the chain. Indeed, the peculiar position of this mountain makes its 
graceful, double-pointed summit a very conspicuous landmark over a large 
portion of the State. North and south of the central portion, the Coast 
Eanges rise ■ higher as they approach the Sierra in each direction, and the 
highest points attain as much as 8,000 feet. 

The scenery of the Coast Ranges is rarely more than picturesque, but 
always pecidiar, especially to those coming from the East. It is not so much 
the summits or ridges, as the valleys which nestle between them, and the 
remarkable vegetation of both valleys and slopes, which give character to the 
landscape. Besides, we must allow its share in producing the general impres- 
sion to the peculiar erosion of the mountain masses, made conspicuous by the 
absence of forest vegetation, and, especially, to the peculiar atmosphere, which 
invests them with an indescribable charm. 

The vegetation of these valleys and ranges is not remarkable for variety,- 
for the number of forest trees exhibited is small ; it is rather the distribution 
of the trees which makes them impressive. These are the most park-like 
valleys in the world. By far the largest number of trees in these valleys are 
oaks, and they grow, not uniformly distributed over the surface, but in grace- 
ful clumps, just as if arranged by the most skilful landscape gardener. The 
burr oak (Quercus lobata), is the one which gives, in the central Californian 
Valley, the most character to the landscape ; it grows to a great size, and has 
the peculiar, gracefully-drooping branches of the American elm; some of the 
noblest specimens of it are to be found in Napa Valley. Other conspicuous 
oaks are the live oak (Q. agrifolia),_ a puzzle to botanists from the variability 
of its foliage, the white (Q. Garryana), the black (Q. Sonomensis) and the 
chestnut (Q. densiflora). 

As we rise above the valleys, and especially in the vicinity of the ocean, 
and in the deep shaded canons which intersect the mountains, and where the 



GENERAL. 33 

moisture brought by the winds from the sea is not too rapidly evaporated, we 
find a more considerable growth of forest-trees in the Coast Ranges, and 
especially as we proceed towards the northwest. Pines and oaks, however, 
everywhere greatly predominate. Of the pines, Pinus Coulteri is remarkable 
as having the largest and most beautiful cones of all the pines ; P. Sabiniana, 
the digger pine, or silver pine, a very characteristic tree of the foot-hills, 
especially of the Sierra Nevada, up to 2,000 feet elevation, and also on the 
dry southerly hillsides of the Coast Ranges ; P. insignis, the well-known 
ornamental " Monterey pine," quite limited in its distribution to some thou- 
sands of acres about Monterey and Carmelo; P. muricata is another Coast 
Range species, and P. ponderosa (the yellow pine) and P. Lambertiana (the 
sugar pine) are found in both Sierra and Coast Ranges. The redwood 
(Sequoia sempervirens) is also one of the grand characteristic trees of the Cali- 
fornian Coast Ranges, to which it is exclusively confined ; with it grows 
frequently the well-known Douglas fir (Abies Douglasii). Besides these there 
are the laurel (Tetranthera Califomica), of which the wood is now coming 
into use for ornamental cabinet work ; the madrona,* a very characteristic and 
beautiful tree with its red bark and glossy leaves. The Monterey cypress 
(Cupressus macrocarpa) is another magnificent tree, greatly resembling the 
cedar of Lebanon ; but strictly confined to one locality at Cypress Point, 
near Monterey. Of the shrubby undergrowth, the chamiso (Adenostema 
fasiculata), the manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca), and different species of the 
Ceanothus,, called " California lilac " by settlers from the Eastern States, on 
account of the resemblance of its perfume to that of the Eastern lilac, are the 
most prominent. These shrubs, separate or mingled together and associated 
with a variety of shrubby oaks, each furnished with as many thorns as there 
are points to leaves or branches, make what is universally known in Cali- 
fornia as " chaparral " ; and large regions, especially near the summits of the 
mountains in the Coast Ranges, are often densely covered with this abomi- 
nable undergrowth, utterly preventing free circulation, and rendering parts of 
the State quite inaccessible, — as, for instance, the mountains along the coast 
south of Monterey for a distance of a hundred miles, into whose recesses not- 
even the explorer or the hunter has ever penetrated. 

* Properly the " madrono," but everywhere called as written above. 
5 



34 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

There are many points of interest in the Coast Ranges which the tourist 
may visit ; among them the Geysers, Clear and Borax Lakes, the New Alma- 
den Mines, and, in general, all the valleys which connect with the Bay of 
San Francisco or are adjacent to it.* One gets a fine idea of the coast 
mountains and valleys by riding over the Santa Cruz Range to the town of 
that name ; and a trip to the Geysers, coupled with the ascent of Sulphur (or 
Geyser) Peak, — a very easy climb from the stage road, — will show the trav- 
eller some of the most interesting features of the lower Californian ranges. 

The most interesting short excursion, however, which can be made from San 
Francisco is the ascent of Monte Diablo, 3,856 feet high, and distant from 
the city, in a north-northeast direction, twenty-eight miles. The route to the 
foot of the mountain, which is usually ascended from the north side, is either 
by carnage or public conveyance from Oakland, by Walnut Creek and San 
Ramon Valley, to Clayton, at the base of the mountain ; or, else, by steamboat 
to Benicia, ferry to Martinez, and carriage or stage to Clayton, via Pacheco. 
In either case Clayton is the point from which the ascent may be made, the 
distance to the summit being about six miles, and the excursion from Clayton 
and back being easily made, on foot or horseback, in a day, with time in the 
afternoon, if one should desire it, to return to Martinez the same night, f 
From the summit the view is panoramic, and perhaps unsurpassed in extent. 
Owing to the peculiar distribution of the mountain ranges of California, and 
the position of Monte Diablo in the centre of a great elliptic basin, the eye 
has full sweep over the slopes of the Sierra Nevada to its crest, from Lassen's 
Peak on the north to Mount Whitney on the south, a distance of fully 325 miles. 
It is only in the clearest weather that the details of the " Snowy Range " can 
be made out ; but the nearer masses of the Coast Ranges, with their innumerable 
waves of mountains and wavelets of spurs, are visible, from Mount Hamilton and 
Mount Oso on the south to Mount Helena on the north. The great interior 
valley of California — the plains of the Sacramento and San Joaquin — are spread 
out under the observer's feet like a map, and they seem illimitable in extent. 

* See il Map of the Vicinity of the Bay of San Francisco," published by the California Geological 
Survey, from which, at a glance, a better idea of the topography of the region may be obtained thaii 
could be given in a whole chapter of verbal description. 

t There should he a good hotel at Clayton; if there were, no doubt pleasure travel to the 
mountain would be much increased. 



GENERAL. 35 

The whole area thus embraced within the field of vision, as limited by the 
extreme points in the distance, is little less than 40,000 square miles, or 
almost as large as the whole State of New York. Mount Hamilton, fifteen 
miles east of San Jose, also commands a grand view, exclusively of the Coast 
Ranges ; parties making a visit to this mountain, however, should be prepared 
to camp at its base, where there are all possible facilities of wood and water. 
The excursion from San Jose to the summit and back was made by our 
party in one day ; but it is much better to take two for the trip, and it 
would not be easy to find a j)leasanter camping-ground than presents itself 
on the banks of the Arroyo Hondo at the base of the mountain. 

What gives its peculiar character to the Coast Range scenery is, the 
delicate and beautiful carving of their masses by the aqueous erosion of 
the soft material of which they are composed, and which is made conspicuous 
by the general absence of forest and shrubby vegetation, except in the 
canons and along the crests of the ranges. The bareness of the slopes gives 
full play to the effects of light and shade caused by the varying and intri- 
cate contour of the surface. In the early spring these slopes are of the most 
vivid green, the awakening to life of the vegetation of this region beginning 
just when the hills and valleys of the Eastern States are most deeply 
covered by snow. Spring here, in fact, commences with the end of 
summer ; winter there is none. Summer, blazing summer, tempered by the 
ocean fogs and ocean breezes, is followed by a long and delightful six months' 
spring, which in its turn passes almost instantaneously away, at the approach 
of another summer. As soon as the dry season sets in, the herbage withers 
under the sun's rays, except in the deep canons, the surface becomes first 
of a pale green, then of a light straw-yellow, and finally, of a rich russet- 
brown color, against which the dark green foliage of the oaks and pines, 
unchanging during the summer, is deeply contrasted. 

One need not go beyond the boundaries of the city of San Francisco to 
obtain fine panoramic views of Coast Range scenery ; let the traveller, an 
hour before sunset, ascend Telegraph or Russian Hill of a clear day in the 
rainy season, — and such days are far from uncommon, — and he will have 
spread out before him the Golden Gate and the Bay of Sau Francisco, and the 
mountains which surround them, from Mount Bache and Mount Hamilton on 
the south to Mount Helena on the north. Looking in a northwesterly 



36 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

direction, he will see the ranges of Marin County coming down to meet the 
ocean, forming the northern side of the Golden Gate, and presenting at their 
termination a broken but precipitous wall of dark reddish rock, from six to 
eight hundred feet high, which contrasts finely with the rounded, green 
slopes above. Beyond these, the steep and graceful form of Tamal Pais 
is seen rising to the height of 2,597 feet, and forming the most prominent 
landmark of the region. This mountain lies six miles southwest of San 
Rafael, from which place the trip to its summit may easily be made on 
horseback in a day ; and, although the view from it is not as extensive as 
that from Monte Diablo, it is one well worthy of being seen, as being both 
attractive and characteristic of the Coast Ranges, while the forest vegetation 
in the canons on the north slope of the mountain is thoroughly Californian, 
consisting of noble specimens of the redwood, lam-el, madrona, and other trees 
noticed above as occurring in this portion of the State. Facing the north, our 
observer from Telegraph Hill will have directly before him, at a distance of a 
mile, Alcatraz Island, with its fortifications, and beyond it, three miles farther 
on in the same direction, Angel Island, 771 feet high, intercepting the view up 
the bay of San Francisco and into San Pablo Bay, beyond which rise the 
numerous ranges which border Napa and Sonoma valleys, the farthest visible 
point in this direction being Mount Helena, 4,343 feet high, and about sixty 
miles distant. Facing the east, the view extends across the Bay, here about 
five miles wide, to the Contra Costa Hills, which rise rapidly from a gently 
sloping plain, two miles in width, to an average height of about 1,500 feet. 
Along the base of the Contra Costa Hills the population is rapidly increasing 
in density, — the towns of Oakland, San Antonio, Alameda, and San Leandro 
forming almost a continuous row of houses along a line some ten or twelve 
miles in length. Behind the Contra Costa Range rises the conical mass 
of Monte Diablo, apparently near at hand, but in reality belonging to a 
distant range, and separated from the Contra Costa Hills by the San Ramon 
Valley. To obtain, within the city itself, a clear view to the south, one 
must ascend the highest point of Clay Street Hill, or the elevation on which 
the reservoir is situated, just beyond Russian Hill ; from these points the 
eye may range over the San Bruno Hills, down the bay into the San Jose 
Valley, and as far as the great mass of mountains near and west of Mount 
Hamilton and Mount Oso, — a wild waste of chaparral-covered ridges, into 



GENERAL. 37 

which few persons have ever penetrated. This portion of the Coast Ranges 
sometimes remains covered with snow for days, or, during exceptionally cold 
and stormy winters, weeks even, and at such times presents an almost 
Alpine appearance. On the other side of the San Jose Valley we look along 
the hills covered with redwood forests — now, alas ! fast disappearing before 
the chopper's axe — as far as Mounts Bache, Chual, and Umunlmm, which 
rise directly above the village and mines of New Almaden, the highest of 
these, named in honor of the late eminent chief of the Coast Survey, being 
just sixty feet lower than Monte Diablo. From some points between the city 
and the ocean, in certain states of the atmosphere, the Farallones are 
distinctly visible, forty miles out at sea, their precipitous granite masses 
gleaming white in the sun. 

But we linger too long among the Coast Ranges, and must turn to the 
grander Sierra, in which the localities more particularly the theme of this 
volume are situated. 

The Sierra Nevada, or " Snowy Range," forms the western edge of the 
great continental upheaval or plateau, on which the Cordilleras are built up. 
It corresponds in position to the Rocky Mountains, the one being the 
western, the other the eastern edge of the central portion of the mass. The 
base of the Rocky Mountains, however, is 4,000 feet above the sea level, and 
the slope from it eastward is almost imperceptible, hut continuous for GOO 
miles to the Mississippi ; while from the crest of the Sierra Nevada we 
descend rapidly, in less than a hundred miles, to very near the level of the 
sea. The plateau between the two ranges is nearly a thousand miles wide, 
having here its greatest development and its maximum altitude, while the 
subordinate ranges piled upon it here exhibit their greatest regularity of 
trend and structure. 

No range among all the mountain chains which make up the Cordilleras 
of North America surpasses, if any one equals, the Sierra Nevada, in extent 
or altitude, and certainly no one on the continent can be compared with 
it in the general features of interest which characterize it, — its scenery, 
vegetation, mineral wealth, the energy and skill witli which its resources 
have been deA'elopcd, and the impetus which this development has given to 
commerce and civilization. 

The Sierra Nevada, as the term is popularly understood, is strictly limited 



38 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

to California, and it extends from the Tejon Pass to Monnt Shasta, a distance 
of over 550 miles. Some, however, and with propriety, would consider the 
Sierra as terminating at Lassen's Peak, a grand volcanic mass in latitude 
40° 30', where the metamorphic rocks of the Sierra system sink down in a 
great transverse break, and a volcanic plateau takes their place and stretches 
north to Mount Shasta. Beyond this last-named volcanic mass, the range is 
prolonged to the north through Oregon and Washington Territory, with much 
the same character as in California, although with greatly diminished average 
elevation; but it is there everywhere known by the name of the Cascade 
Range. In its southern termination, as previously remarked, the Sierra 
Nevada inosculates with the Coast Ranges, and the two systems are so linked 
together from the Tejon Pass south, that there is no longer any geographical, 
but only a geological, distinction to be made between the two systems. 

Considering the Sierra to terminate on the north at Lassen's Peak, its 
length will be about 450 miles, and its breadth, taking the valleys of 
Walker's, Mono, and Honey Lakes as its eastern, and the base of the foot- 
hills as its western limit, may be set down as averaging 80 miles. This 
width, however, is very unequally distributed between the two slopes ; the 
western is much more gradual, and of course longer, especially as the 
elevation to be gained is much greater ; for the western descent is to the 
level of the sea, or nearly to that ; while the eastern is to the level 
of the Great Basin, some 4,000 feet above tide-water. The western slope 
of the Sierra rises, in the central portion of the State, opposite Sacramento, 
at the average rate of about 100 feet to a mile, the elevation of the passes 
being about 7,000 feet, and the horizontal distance seventy miles. As we 
go south from here the elevation of the passes increases rapidly and the 
breadth of the range diminishes, until the grade reaches its maximum 
opposite Visalia, where the average rise from the plain of the San Joaquin 
to the summit of the passes is over 240 feet to the mile, and to the summit 
of the highest peaks 300 feet. North of the Donner Lake Pass, or that 
by which the Central Pacific Railroad crosses the Sierra, the branches of the 
Feather River head around and to the east of an elevated range on which 
Spanish Peak and Lassen's Peak are situated, while the real divide or water- 
shed is forty miles farther east, and crowned with numerous peaks, few 
of which are named and none known to geographers. The intermediate space 



GENERAL. 39 

between these two dominating ranges is filled with a labyrinth of ridges and 
valleys, defying all attempts at classification. The average slope from Oroville 
to the summit of Beckworth's Pass is not over seventy feet to the mile ; 
but, owing to the peculiar character of the country indicated above, this 
more moderate elevation and grade could not be made available for railroad 
purposes, as the summit could not be reached, except by a circuitous and 
difficult route up one of the branches of the Feather River. 

The height of the dominating peaks, as well as of the passes, sinks as we 
go northward from latitude 36° 30', which is nearly that of the north end 
of Owen's Lake. This condition of things will be easily understood on 
examination of the annexed tabular statement : — 



TABLE OF THE ELEVATIONS OF PEAKS AND PASSES IN THE 
SIERRA NEVADA. 



Latitude. 



36 32 

37 28 

37 55 

38 10 
38 30 
38 45 

38 50 

39 10 

39 20 

39 30 

39 38 

39 45 



Name and Elevation of Pass. 



Pass without name . 

Mono Pass 

Sonora Pass 

Silver Mountain Pass . . . 

Carson Pass 

Johnson Pass 

Georgetown, or Squaw 

Valley Pass 

Donner Pass 

Henness Pass 

Yuba Gap 

Beckworth's Pass 



No of Feet. 

12,057 

12,400 

10,765 

10,115 

8,793 

8,759 

7,339 

7,119 ) 
7,056 [ 
6,996 ) 

6,642 
5,327 



Name and Elevation of Adjacent 
Dominating Peak. 

j No. of Feet. 

Mount Whitney 15,000 

Red Slate Peak 1.3,400 

Mount Dana 13,227 

Castle Peak ] 2,500 

Silver Mountain 10,934 

Wood's Peak 10,552 

Pyramid Peak 10,120 

No very marked domi- 
nating peaks ; the crest 
of the range from 500 
to 1,000 feet above the 
passes. 

Downieville Buttes ! 8,400 

Onjumi | 8,378 



From Beckworth's north, the passes gain a little in elevation, and the 
adjacent peaks are from 8,000 to 9,000 feet high. The above table shows 
that from latitude 36° 32' to 39° 45' the peaks sink from 15,000 to 8,400, 
and the passes from 12,000 to 5,400 feet. 

The central mass, or core, of the Sierra Nevada, as of most high moun- 
tains, is chiefly granite ; this is flanked on both sides by metamorphic slates, 
and capped irregularly by vast masses of basaltic and other kinds of lava, 
and heavy beds of ashes and breccia, bearing witness to a former prodigious 
activity of the subterranean volcanic forces, now dormant or only made 



40 THE YOSEM1TE GUIDE-BOOK. 

sensible by occasional earthquake shocks. The granitic belt widens as we go 
south, and, in the highest portion of the Sierra, has a breadth of nearly 
forty miles. Northwards, the amount of volcanic material increases, and, 
after we pass Lassen's Peak, as before remarked, it covers the whole width 
of the range, forming one vast elevated plateau, crowned with a series of 
cones, many of which have well-formed craters still existing on their summits. 
These craters, however, now exhibit no indications of present activity. The 
only remnants of the forces by which they were built up are the hot 
springs, which are plentifully distributed along the line of former volcanic 
action. While the southern highest points of the Sierra are of granite, and 
those north of Lake Tahoe are chiefly volcanic, or, at least, capped with 
volcanic materials, there are a number of very elevated peaks in the central 
part of the State, including Mount Dana, which are made iip of slates and 
metamorphic rocks, as will be noticed in the next chapter. 

In so elevated a range as the Sierra Nevada, we should expect to find a 
number of belts of forest vegetation, corresponding to the different zones of 
altitude above the sea-level. As in the Coast Ranges, the general character 
is given to the landscape by coniferous trees and oaks, all other families being 
usually quite subordinate in importance, and the number of the conifers, as 
compared with that of the oaks, increasing rapidly as we ascend. 

There are four pretty well marked belts of forest vegetation on the west 
slope of the Sierra, and that of the eastern slope would make a fifth for the 
whole range. These belts, however, pass gradually into each other, and are 
not so defined that lines can be drawn separating or distinctly limiting them, 
and the division into groups or belts here proposed will only be found to hold 
good in the central portion of the State ; as we ' go north, all the groups of 
species gradually descend in elevation, especially in approaching the coast. 

Of the four belts on the western slope of the Sierra the lowest is that of 
the foot-hills, extending up to about 3,000 feet in elevation ; its most charac- 
teristic species are the digger pine (P. Sabiniana) and the black oak [Q. 
Sonomensis) ; these stand sparsely scattered over the hillsides, or in graceful 
groups, nowhere forming what can be called a forest. The pale bluish 
tint of the pine leaves contrasts finely with the dark green of the oak foliage, 
and both pines and oaks are strongly relieved, in summer, against the amber 
and straw-colored ground. The small side valleys, gulches or canons, as they 



GENERAL. 



41 



are called in California, according to their dimensions, are lined with flowering 
shrubs, of which the California " buck-eye " (jEsculus Calif ornica), is, at this 
altitude, by far the most conspicuous, gradually giving place, as we ascend, to 
the various species of the delightfully fragrant Ceanothus, or California lilac. 
Manzanita and chamiso are, of course, abundant everywhere, and especially on 
the driest hillsides and summits. 

The next belt is that of the pitch pine, or Pinus ponderosa, the sugar pine 
(P. Lambert iana), the white or bastard cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), and the 
Douglas spruce (Abies Douglasii) ; this is peculiarly the forest belt of the 
Sierra Nevada, or that in which the trees have their finest development. 
The pitch pine replaces the digger pine first, and more and more of the sugar 
pine is seen from about 4,000 feet on to 5,000, at Avhich altitude the last- 
named noble and peculiarly Californian tree is most abundant. The sugar 
pine is remarkable for the size of its cones, which hang in bunches of two or 
more from the ends of the long branches, like ornamental tassels. The tim- 
ber of this tree is the best that California furnishes, and its size gigantic, 
being not unfrequently 300 feet in height and from seven to ten feet in 
diameter. It is also in this belt that the "Big Trees" belong. 

The third zone of forest vegetation is that of the firs (Picea grandis and 
amabilis), with the tamarack pine (P. contort a) taking to a considerable 
extent the place of the pitch and sugar pines. This belt extends from 7,000 
to 9,000 feet above the sea, in the central part of the State. The traveller 
to the Yosemite will see it well developed about Westfall's meadows and from 
there to the edge of the Valley. These firs, especially the amabilis, which is 
distinguished by the geometrical regularity with which its branches are divided, 
are most superb trees ; they attain a large size, are very symmetrical in their 
growth, and have a dark green brilliant foliage, which is very fragrant. A 
pine called Pinus Jeffreyi, by some considered a variety of the ponderosa, is 
also a characteristic tree of the upper part of this belt, and above this sets 
in the Pinus monticola, which takes the place of the Piceas at a high 
elevation. 

The highest belt of all is that of the Pinus albicaulis (or ftexilis of some 

botanists), which marks the limit of vegetation in the middle and northern 

Sierra, Pinus aristata taking its place in the more southern region about the 

head of King's and Kern Rivers. The albicaidis generally shows itself at the 

6 



42 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

line just where vegetation is going to give out altogether, as around the base 
of Mount Clark, Mount Dana, and Mount Shasta. On the last-named moun- 
tain it was seen growing, as a shrub, in favorable places, up to 9,000 feet ; 
and small trees were so compacted by the pressure of the snow on them in 
the winter, that a man could easily walk over the flat surface formed by their 
foliage. A little clump of this species just at the edge of the snow, on Las- 
sen's Peak, shows the aspiring character of this tree, which is one widely 
distributed over the high mountain-tops of the Cordilleras. The aristata is 
also found in the Rocky Mountains, as well as along a limited part of the 
highest region of the Sierra Nevada. 

More details of the distribution of the forest trees in and about the Yo- 
semite will be foimd in the two following chapters ; the above very general 
and brief remarks seemed necessary to our hasty sketch of the general fea- 
tures of the Sierra Nevada. 

The climate of the Sierra Nevada varies, of course, with the altitude ; but 
not so much, nor so rapidly, as one would expect. Indeed, the traveller, 
leaving San Francisco, will have to rise several thousand feet on the flanks 
of the Sierra, before he will come to a region where the mean temperature 
of summer is as low as in that city. As high up as 8,000 or 10,000 
feet, even, the days are quite comfortably warm. On the very highest peaks, 
at elevations of 12,000 or 13,000 feet, we rarely felt the want of an overcoat 
at midday. An examination of our thermometrical observations shows that 
we had the mercury almost always over 80° in the Yosemite Valley, at an 
elevation of 4,000 feet above the sea, during the six midday hours, in June 
and July, although the nights were, almost without exception, cool enough 
to make a pair of heavy blankets desirable. At our camp in the Tuolumne 
Valley, during the same months, at an elevation of 8,700 feet, the mercury 
stood at a little over G0°, usually, during the hours from 11 to 3, but fell 
rapidly after sunset ; and, in one case, solid ice an inch thick was formed 
during the night. At the summit of Mount Dana, 13,227 feet high, the 
temperature marked at noon was 43° ; and on Red Mountain, at an elevation 
of nearly 12,000 feet, the thermometer stood at 58°. At high altitudes, all 
through the mountains, the weather during the summer is almost always the 
finest possible for travelling, whether for scientific purposes or for pleasure. 
The nights, indeed, are cold ; but fuel is abundant, and the system becomes 



GENERAL. 43 

braced up to endure what, in lower regions, would seem unbearable. There 
are occasional storms in the high mountains ; but, in ordinary seasons, these 
are quite rare, and one of the greatest drawbacks to the pleasure of travelling 
in the Alps, the uncertainty of the weather, is here almost entirely wanting. 
One may be reasonably sure, in starting to climb a mountain peak, of a 
clear sky, and a temperature which will make walking and riding a pleasure. 

In the mountains there is almost always a breeze during the day ; but 
this rarely in summer rises to a gale. In the daytime the air draws up the 
mountain slopes, and in the night blows down. Hence travellers always have 
the dust with them, in ascending, until they get above roads and wheeled 
vehicles, — a great annoyance, and a serious drawback to the pleasure of 
travelling, the only compensation for which is to be found in the fact that, 
in going down the mountains and towards the Bay of San Francisco, whether 
approaching it from north or south, you have the breeze in your face and 
the dust behind you. 

The high mountains of California receive, probably, their whole precipitation 
of moisture in the form of snow, and of this an enormous amount falls, and 
during the winter months almost exclusively. In the central portion of the 
State snow is not frequent, neither does it lie long on the ground, at 
localities below 3,000 feet in altitude. As we go higher than this, the 
snow-fall increases rapidly, and it accumulates in immense bodies on the 
mountain slopes, and especially in the canons. Nearly one hundred inches 
of rain fell in the Sierra, during the stormy winter of 1867-68, along a belt 
2,000 feet above the sea-level, and we can easily believe the statement that 
over sixty feet of snow fell during that season at Donner Lake, not quite \\ 
6,000 feet in altitude. The variation in the fall of rain or snow, from 
winter to winter, is very great all through California. During ordinary 
years, however, the flanks of the Sierra are well covered down to 4,000 feet 
above the sea, during the midwinter months, and a heavy body of snow lies 
on the passes until May, or even June. 

The crest of the Sierra is never entirely denuded of its snow ; although 
at the end of a long and dry summer, following an unusually dry winter, 
there are no heavy bodies of it except in the canons, on the northern slopes 
of the very highest peaks. There is ordinarily but little if any snow left, 
at the end of the summer, along the crest of the mountains between Henness 



44 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Pass and Lassen's Peak. One or two of the other highest points in Plunias 
Comity showed, here and there, a spot of snow on their northern slopes, in 
1S»36, until nearly the end of the summer ; hut on Lassen's Peak quite large 
bodies of snow remain permanently, as far down as 2,000 feet below the 
summit. From here north to Mount Shasta there is no lasting accumulation 
of snow : but on that peak there are always, throughout the season, great 
masses' in the ravines or canons on all sides, extending down to 6,000 or 
7,000 feet below the summit. It is here, and here only, that a pretty well 
denned " line of perpetual snow " may be said to exist. Seen from a great 
distance. Mount Shasta appears as a dazzlingly white cone of snow ; but, from 
a point only a few miles off, it is evident enough that the ridges and crests 
between the ravines furrowing its sides are bare, and that these form a large 
portion of the whole surface. 

It is the melting in summer of the snow accumulated during the winter 
which keeps the streams full of water, high up in the mountains, and these, 
in turn, furnish the canals or ditches which convey the indispensable supply 
to the miners. These ditches are deep in proportion to their width, and 
have a rapid fall, so as to lessen the evaporation, which so rapidly diminishes 
the quantity of water in the streams flowing naturally down the Sierra, the 
smaller of which usually become quite dry before the summer is half over. 
Thus the store of snow laid by in the Sierra is a most precious treasure 
to the State : for, if all the precipitation were in the fomi of rain, it would 
nm off at once, causing devastating floods, and in the su mm er it would be 
impossible to earrv on agricultural or mining operations. Indeed, without 
the supply of snow, the whole country would become a perfect desert. All 
through the Great Basin it is the melting of the winter's stock of snow 
which gives what little there is of verdure and fertility to the slopes of the 
mountains. When the ranges are lofty enough and wide enough to collect 
and store away a large supply, which as it melts will furnish water to 
irrigate the slopes and valleys, these may be made to bear abundant crops ; 
where, on the other hand, the ridges are low, they, as well as the valleys at 
then- bases, are absolutely sterile. 

The snow seems to disappear from the summits of the higher peaks by 
evaporation, rather than by actual melting. On the top of Mount Shasta, for 
instance, there was no indication of dampness ; indeed, pieces of paper, with 



GENERAL. 45 

the names of visitors -written on them, and laid in uncorked bottles, or on 
the rocks themselves, were found by us to have remained for years as fresh 
and free from moidd or discoloration as when first left there. It is owing 
to this peculiar dryness of the air, probably, that there are no indications of 
the present existence of glaciers on Mount Shasta ; and, if not occurring 
there, they could not be expected to be found anywhere else in California. 
Masses of snow several miles long, and hundreds of feet in thickness, remain 
all summer without showing any indication of becoming glacier ice. They 
freeze and thaw on the surface, and gradually waste away, without giving rise 
to considerable streams, remaining always snow and nothing but snow. 

At a former and not very remote geological period, however, there were 
immense glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, and the traces of their past existence 
are among the most interesting phenomena to be observed there now. The 
same beautifully striated and polished surfaces of rock, resulting from the 
pressure and sliding of great masses of ice over them, — the same peculiar ac- 
cumulations of gravel and boidders, called " moraines " in the Alps, and which 
are always formed where glaciers exist, arc found in the Sierra over a great 
extent of surface. These manifestations of former glacial agencies are limited 
to the higher pai*t of the range, and are most abundant and well-defined about 
the heads of Kern and King's Rivers, in the region above the Yosemite, 
and in the valleys in which the Merced, San Joaquin, and Tuolumne head, as 
will be more fully noticed in a succeeding chapter. The facts observed prove 
clearly that the climate of California was once considerably moister than it 
now is. There must have been a pretty abundant precipitation of snow along 
the Sierra, during the summer, as there now is in the Alps ; but it is not 
necessary to suppose that the country, at the base of the mountains at least, 
was uninhabitable. The glaciers did not extend, in the central portion of the 
State, down below 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea-level, except in a few 
exceptional localities. In these, the configuration of the mountain valleys at 
the head of the glaciers was s\ich as to give occasion for the accumulation of 
exceptionally great masses of snow. Such cirques, or amphitheatres, exist now 
at the heads of the largest Alpine glaciers. Of these former low-descending 
ice-masses in California, one of the most striking was that which came down 
the valley of the Tuolumne, and which must have been over thirty miles 
in length. 



46 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

That there was formerly a much greater precipitation of moisture on the 
eastern side of the Sierra than there now is, seems proved by the former 
greater extension of the lakes on the eastern slope. Mono Lake, for instance, 
is surrounded by terraces or benches, which show that its surface once stood 
600 feet higher than it now does, and the same is true of Walker, Pyramid, 
and the other lakes on that side of the Sierra. No doubt, at that time, the 
now arid valleys of Nevada were beautiful inland seas, which filled the spaces 
between the lofty parallel ridges by which that State is traversed. Perhaps 
the slopes of those ridges were then clothed with dense forests, offering a 
wonderful contrast to the present barrenness of the ranges, and the monotony 
and desolation of the alkaline plains at their bases. 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 47 



CHAPTER III. 

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 

The Yosemite Valley is situated a little south of east from San Francisco, 
and is distant from that city about 155 miles in a direct line ; but by either 
of the routes usually travelled it is nearly 250, as will be seen front the 
annexed tables, which give the estimated distances of the Valley from 
Stockton, by each of the three routes which it is possible to take by the 
ordinary public conveyances. Stockton itself, usually called 120 miles by 
water from San Francisco, is now reached by steamboat from the city in 
about twelve hours. Boats leave San Francisco at four o'clock p. m., and 
arrive at Stockton early the next morning, in ample time to connect with 
the stages which leave the last-named place for various points in the moun- 
tains at six o'clock a. m. A railroad between the two cities will probably 
soon make some changes in the time of leaving both. 

From Stockton there are, nominally, three routes to the Yosemite ; but, 
of late, almost all the travel has been by two of them, the third, that by 
Big Oak Flat, being almost entirely neglected. Yet this is the most direct 
line to the Valley, passengers by either of the other routes making a 
considerable detovir to the south. A straight line from Stockton to the 
Yosemite passes directly through Big Oak Flat, and the distance is only 
ninety miles in an air-line. 

A railroad has also been talked of for some time between Stockton and 
Copperopolis. This would shorten the time to the Yosemite considerably, and 
perhaps bring the Big Oak Flat route into fashion. Those who can afford it 
will do well to hire private conveyances at Stockton, as the stages are often 
crowded and uncomfortable, the arrangements on the route not having been 
hitherto made with reference to the comfort of pleasure travellers. 

The tables of distances from Stockton, by the different routes, are as 
follows : — 



48 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



By stage or 

other wheeled 

vehicle. 



On horseback. 



By stage. 



Horseback or 
on wheels. 



On horseback. 



VIA BIG OAK FLAT. Miles. 

Stockton to Copperopolis 36 

Copperopolis to Chinese Camp 15 

Chinese Camp to Jacksonville 4 

Jacksonville to Bis; Oak Flat 



Total. 



63 



Big Oak Flat to Sprague's Ranch 9 

Sprague's Ranch to Big Flume 4 

Big Flume to South Fork, Tuolumne River 3 

South Fork to Hardin's Ranch 4 

Hardin's Ranch to Tamarack Flat 14 

Tamarack Flat to Boundary Corner, Yosemite 2j 

Boundary Corner to Lower Hotel 7* 



VIA COULTERVILLE. 

Stockton to Knight's Ferry 36 

Knight's Ferry to Crimea House 12 

Crimea House to Don Pedro's Bar 9 

Don Pedro's Bar to Coultcrville 14 

Coultcrville to Bower Cave 12 

Bower Cave to Black's 5 

Black's to Deer Flat 6 

Deer Flat to Hazle Green. 5J 

Hazle Green to Crane Flat 5 

Crane Flat to Tamarack Flat 4j 

Tamarack Flat to Boundary 2J 

Boundary Stake to Edge of Valley 0^ 

Edge of Valley to Lower Hotel 7 



44j 
107] 



71 



Total. 



48i 
ll9l 



By stage or 
on wheels. 



On horseback. - 



VIA BEAR VALLEY AND MARIPOSA. 

Stockton to Tuolumne River 45 

Tuolumne River to Snelling's 12 

Snelling's to Hornitos 12 

Hornitos to Bear Valley • 9 

Bear Valley to Mariposa 12 

I Mariposa to White and Hatch's 1JJ 

White and Hitch's to Clark's ll| 

Clark's to Alder Creek 6^ 

Alder Creek to Empire Camp 3 

Empire Camp to Westfall's Meadow 3j 

Westfall's Meadow to Inspiration Point 5 

. Inspiration Point to Lower Hotel 7 h 

Total 



101J 



_37J 
138^ 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 49 

Thus it will be seen that the distances to be travelled by the different 
routes are as follows : — 

B. O. Flat. Coulterville. Mariposa. 

On wheels 63 71 101^ miles. 

Horseback 44£ 48^ 37| " 

Total 1074 119A 138| 

And, having given the distances, as above, we will add a few words as to 
the desirability of the different routes. In the first place, it must be men- 
tioned that the roads into the Valley all have a great fault ; the traveller 
is obliged to rise from 3,000 to 3,500 feet higher than the point which he 
wishes to reach, namely, the bottom of the Yosemite Valley, which is only 
4,000 feet above the sea-level, while the highest point on the Mariposa trail 
is 7,400 feet in elevation, and the summit on the Coulterville and Big Oak 
Flat side not much less. The reason of this is, that the canon of the 
Merced, which river runs through the Valley, is deep and crooked, and has 
such precipitous sides, that making a road or trail through it would be quite 
difficult and expensive, so that the Valley has to be approached, not from 
below, but from one side. Still, the Indians have a trail on the south side 
of the Merced, from Clark's ranch, which is used by them when the other 
is closed by snow, and which we suppose to be at least 2,000 feet lower 
than the other, and which consequently is open earlier in the spring and 
closed later in the autumn. If a good trail could be made into the Valley 
this way, not only would the extra climbing and descending be avoided, but, 
what is of more importance, the Valley would be accessible to travellers, not 
liking to go in over the snow, for a much longer time during the season. 
At present there is sometimes a considerable amount of snow to be crossed 
in going in, on either side, as late as June, although, generally, the trail 
is clear in May. 

It is usually a great desideratum with travellers to shorten the distance 
to be made on horseback as much as possible, and in this respect it will 
be seen that the Mariposa trail has the advantage, as there are only 37 
miles of horseback riding on that side to 48 on the other. With a little 
expense, however, the trail on the Coulterville side may easily be shortened 
so that it shall not be much longer than the other. This may be done by 
making a straight road from the Bower Cave to Deer Flat, by which five 
7 



50 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

or six miles may be saved, as will be seen on the map. A good wagon-road 
can be made on this side from Coulterville to the edge of the Valley, for 
a very moderate sum, so that travellers could make the trip through in one 
day ; indeed, there is now a wagon-road as far as Black's, although it is 
seldom used. As at present arranged, it is very inconvenient to travellers, 
especially to ladies not accustomed to riding, since there is no stopping-place 
on that side, except at Black's (which is an excellent one) ; but this being- 
only seventeen miles from Coulterville, there are 3H miles to be done the 
next day, — a very hard day's work, when we consider that climbing down 
the walls of the Valley makes up a part of it. 

The proper way for travellers is, undoubtedly, to make the "round trip," 
going into the Valley on one side and returning on the other, as the trail 
on the Mariposa side takes one near the Big Trees, and, besides, furnishes 
by far the best general views of the Valley ; while, on the Coulterville trail, 
we have the Bower Cave and many fine views of the distant Sierra. It is 
for the traveller to decide whether he prefers getting these general views 
of the Valley after he has already been there, or on his way into it. If he 
wishes to have the whole grandeur of the Yosemite revealed to him at once, 
let him enter the Valley on the Mariposa side; if, on the other hand, he 
prefers to see the various points in succession, one after another, and then, 
finally, as he leaves the Valley, to have these glorious general views, as a 
kind of summing up of the whole, he will enter by the Coulterville and 
depart by the Mariposa side. Horses and guides may be obtained at Coulter- 
ville, Mariposa or Bear Valley, to make the round trip, and parties often 
go prepared to camp out on the way wherever they may find it agreeable, 
thus rendering themselves independent of hotels and landlords. Those who 
do not camp usually ride from Bear Valley or Mariposa to White and 
Hatch's, dine there, and go on to Clark's the same evening ; stop over there 
one day, and visit the Big Tree Grove ; then ride to the Yosemite the next 
day. In leaving the Valley, they ride to Black's the first day ; then to 
Coulterville the second, and reach San Francisco late the night of the third. 
Those who are not in haste should stop over night at White and Hatch's, 
and jog on comfortably the next day to Clark's. Persons have been foimd, 
sufficiently in haste, and having so little regard for their horses, as to ride 
from Bear Valley to the Yosemite in one day, eighteen hours long ! 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 51 

With the completion of the railroad from San Francisco to Stockton, and 
from the latter place to Copperopolis, as well as of the wagon-roads contem- 
plated and spoken of above, the trip to the Yosemitc will no longer be one 
requiring any considerable exertion, even from those least used to " roughing 
it." As at present arranged, however, it will not do to take less than ten 
days for the excursion from San Francisco to the Yosemite and back, includ- 
ing a visit to the Big Trees. This includes a stoppage of three days in the 
Valley, — the least time that one can give to it, even if all the minor excur- 
sions are neglected. The following would be a convenient programme : leave 
on Stockton boat at four o'clock p. M. ; then first day to Bear Valley ; second, 
to White and Hatch's ; third, visit the Big Trees and return to Clark's ; 
fourth, to the Yosemite ; fifth, sixth, and seventh, in the Valley ; eighth, to 
Black's ; ninth, to Bower Cave and Coulterville ; tenth, return to San Francisco, 
leaving Coulterville very early in the morning and reaching San Francisco late 
the same night. There is nothing in the trip which need excite alarm in 
even the most timid person, as the trails are nowhere dangerous, and it is 
always easy to dismount where the slope is too steep for riding with comfort 
to man or beast. The grandeur of the scenery, the magnificence's of the 
forests, the clear cool water, and bracing air of the mountains, — all'- these 
combine to make the ride, after one leaves the foot-hills, one of most 
intense enjoyment to those who arc sufficiently accustomed to riding to feel 
" at home " on a horse's or mule's back, as is Visually the case with Califoi-- 
nians. Three days, however, is but a very limited time for seeing the Valley 
itself and its surroundings ; and, after describing the principal objects of in- 
terest in the region, some hints will be given as to extending the sojourn 
there and utilizing the additional days to the best advantage. 

For convenience, the routes into the Valley, on each side, will first be de- 
scribed, and then the Valley itself, and we will imagine the traveller to start 
at Coulterville, entering the Yosemite on the north side. 

Coulterville lies near the " Great Quartz Vein " of California, and was once 
the seat of considerable placer and quartz mining; but both of these indus- 
tries are, at present, in rather a stagnant condition. It lies on Maxwell 
Creek, a branch of the Merced, at an elevation of about 1,800 feet above 
the sea, and not far from the border between the " foot-hills " and the Sierra 
proper, where we leave the hills densely covered with chaparral for the more 



52 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

open and majestic forests of the higher regions, exchanging ditches for natu- 
rally-running water, no longer thickened to the consistency of porridge by the 
red mud of the miner. The road runs from Coulterville nearly northeast for 
eight miles, until it strikes the North Fork of the Merced, down which it 
descends for a short distance, then crosses and passes near the " Bower 
Cave." This is a picturesque and quite unique locality, and is well worthy 
of a visit. 

It consists of an immense crack in the limestone, open to the air at the 
surface, and irregularly widened out in a cave-like manner below, by the action 
of currents of water. On the upper side of the obliquely-descending crevice, 
an overhanging ledge of rock permits the vertical depth of the cave to the 
level of the water, which partly fills it, to be measured ; it is 109 feet. The 
length of the open crevice is 133 feet, and its width 86. At various heights, 
deep cavities, or small caves, are worn in the rock, some of which may 
be followed for a considerable distance. The picturesque effect of the cave is 
greatly heightened by the growth within it of three large maple trees, 
of which the branches project out at the top. The water at the bottom 
is exceedingly pellucid, permitting the ramifications of the crevice beneath its 
surface to be seen for a depth of at least forty feet. Access can be had to 
the bottom of the cave by a series of steps, and a boat is provided for the 
use of visitors ; other conveniences are also furnished, permitting a cool and 
comfortable stay in this curious place, which seems to be peculiarly adapted 
for a picnic in hot weather. 

From the Bower Cave, the road follows down the north fork of the Merced 
for three miles, then crosses over rolling hills to Black's, about the same 
distance farther. Here the first night is usually spent, the accommodations 
being excellent. From Black's, the trail winds along the side of the narrow 
valley of Bull Creek, completely embowered in ceanothus, or California lilac, 
most fragrant during the early part of the season. Leaving Bull Creek, we 
follow Deer Creek, one of its branches, to its source at Deer Flat. This 
is one of the numerous small, nearly level, areas of grassy land, usually 
called "flats" in the Sierra. Here was formerly, and perhaps is still, the last 
habitation on the trail, and good camping ground, although rather wet early 
in the season. 

Leaving Deer Flat, the trail winds up along the side of Pilot Peak, a 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 53 

prominent landmark, a little over 6,000 feet above the sea-level, the summit 
of which may be easily reached from the trail, and the view from which will 
well repay a delay of a couple of hours for that purpose. There are few 
points of easy access finer than Pilot Peak for a general view of the Sierra, 
the crest of which is about forty miles distant in a straight line. In clear 
weather, in spite of this distance, an admirable panoramic view may be 
obtained, especially of the almost inaccessible volcanic region south of the 
Sonora trail, where Castle Peak, one of the grandest mountain masses in 
California, rises in steps like a series of truncated pyramids piled one above 
the other. This point is twenty-five miles distant in a northeasterly 
direction. Sweeping round the horizon, to the right from Castle Peak, we 
see, beyond the Yosemite, the highest portion of the Sierra, at the head 
of the Merced River, a magnificent group of peaks over 13,000 feet in 
elevation. The summit of Pilot Peak is also an excellent point for getting 
an idea of the middle portion of the Sierra Nevada, the region of deep 
canons and innumerable, long, parallel ridges, all clad Avith dense forests 
of coniferous trees. 

From Deer Flat to Crane Flat is ten and a half miles (usually called 
twelve), Hazle Green being midway between the two ; these are all small 
patches of meadow. The trail passes over and along a high granite spur 
of the Sierra, rising at the summit to the elevation of 6,669 feet. From 
this portion of the route there are occasional glimpses to be had of the crest 
of the Sierra, especially from a ridge a few rods to the south of the trail, 
at a point two miles beyond Hazle Green. Here we have a fine view of the 
Merced Group, — the mountain range about which the branches of the river 
of that name head. At Crane Flat, 6,130 feet above the sea, there is a 
deserted shanty and abundant feed for animals. The forests in this vicinity 
are superb, consisting of firs, cedars, sugar and pitch pines. There is also 
a small grove of the Big Trees about a mile from the Flat, in a northwest- 
erly direction. 

From here on to the Yosemite the character of the scenery begins to 
change, and to show indications of an approach to the higher regions of the 
Sierra. The larger outcrops of granite assume more or less of the dome 
form, and they are almost bare of vegetation. The forests become less dense, 
the sugar pine grows less frequent, and the firs and spruce begin to pre- 



54 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

dominate over the pines. From Crane Flat to Cascade Creek is an elevated 
region, about 7,000 feet above the sea, and covered with snow some time 
after the rest of the trail has become clear. Hence a lower route has been 
selected, which descends Crane Creek and then skirts along the canon of the 
Merced, a thousand or more feet below the one ordinarily in use later in 
the season. This avoiding the high ground, however, is not effected without 
adding a couple of miles to the distance. The two trails unite at Cascade 
Creek, only a short distance from the edge of the Valley. At a little 
distance from the trail, on the southern or right-hand side, a partial glimpse 
into the Yosemite may be obtained. It is not a satisfactory one, however, 
on account of the number of trees in the way, and the bend in the Valley 
itself, which cuts off the view of all the upper part. This point of view has 
been rather absurdly called the " Stand-Point of Silence." 

Leaving our imaginary party sitting here and enjoying the cool breezes and 
grateful shade, we will return and conduct another set over the Mariposa 
trail, in order that justice may be done to " both sides." 

The traveller, starting from Bear Valley for the Yosemite, passes diagonally 
through the whole length of the Mariposa Estate, that famous quartz -mining 
property which has had so many ups and downs. Before starting, however, 
one should take a day to ride to the summit of Mount Bullion, two miles 
east of Bear Valley, if he has time, and wishes for something like the distant 
panoramic view of the Sierra, which was described above as to be had from 
Pilot Peak, on the Coulterville trail. From Mount Bullion the view to the 
south along the crest of the Sierra is one of immense extent, the eye ranging 
for a hundred miles, as far as the head of the Kern and King's Rivers, along 
a serrated line of peaks from 12,000 to 15,000 feet in height. This view 
can only be had, as a rule, early in the season ; for, later than May or June 
(according to the season), all views, from points not high up in the Sierra, 
begin to be obscured by the rising cloud of smoke and dust, which gradually 
accumidates during the summer, and finally cuts off all distant objects. 

The road from Bear Valley to Mariposa passes through a region which 
gives as good an idea as any in the State of equal extent can of the 
peculiar foot-hill scenery of the Sierra Nevada. The park-like valley, with 
scattered oaks and pines, the latter chiefly of Pin-as Sabiniana, the true 
foot-hill pine ; the dark chaparral-covered hills ; the ground almost hidden by 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 55 

a profusion of brilliant flowers and flowering shrubs in the spring, but dry, 
brown and dusty in the summer, still, however, invested with a certain charm 
bv the eternal serenity of the weather ; the intense heat of the sun and the 
refreshing coolness of the breezy shade ; the nights without dew or dampness, 
and the days without clouds, — these are the prominent features of the lower 
belt of the Sierra, up to 3,000 or 4,000 feet above the sea-level. 

At Mormon Bar we leave the Mariposa Estate, and, traversing a not 
particularly interesting, but particularly dusty, region of foot-hills, crossing 
numerous small branches of the Chowchilla, arrive, after twelve miles of 
riding, at White and Hatch's, a little over 3,000 feet above the sea-level. 
Here we begin to enter the real mountain region of the Sierra, to find 
ourselves among the tall pitch pines, and to get sniffs of cool ah* from the 
snow-banks above. From White and Hatch's to Clark's the trail ascends 
the Chowchilla Creek, and then crosses a high ridge forming the divide 
between that stream and the waters of the Merced. Nearly the whole way 
is among the finest forests of the Sierra, the summit on the trail being 
about 2,800 feet above White and Hatch's. To the left of the trail is a 
high granite knob, called the Devil's Mountain, not easy of ascent, but 
offering a fine view to the climber. From the summit the road descends 
rapidly, crosses Big Creek, a branch of the South Fork of the Meixed, rounds 
the extremity of the spur which separates the creek from the river, and 
reaches Clark's ranch, on the banks of the South Merced, after a descent 
of about 1,700 feet from the summit of the trail. 

At Clark's ranch we are nearly at the same elevation as the Yosemite 
Valley, which lies directly north at a distance of only twelve miles in a 
direct lino.* The South Fork is here a stream 60 to 80 feet wide, clear as 
crystal, and heading about sixteen miles farther up, at the southeast end 
of the Merced Group. Mr. Clark himself is one of the pioneers of the 
country, and has always received travellers with that hearty hospitality and 
genuine kindness which makes them feel at home. The accommodations here, 
although not palatial, are well suited to minister to comfort. Here travellers 
usually remain over a day, to visit the Big Tree Grove, four miles distant, 
of which more in a subsequent chapter. 

* Mr. Clark's house is 65 feet above the Lower Hotel in the Yosemite. 



56 THE Y0SEM1TE GUIDE-BOOK. 

From Clark's, the trail to the Yosemite crosses the South Fork of the 
Merced, and ascends rapidly on to the plateau which lies between the Main 
Merced and the South Fork. After about six miles' travel, pretty steadily 
up-hill, we reach Alder Creek, 1,900 feet above Clark's, and follow this up 
about a mile to Empire Camp, not now inhabited, attaining here an elevation 
of 2,018 feet above Clark's, or about 6,000 feet above the sea-level. We are 
now nearly on the height of the plateau, and follow along Alder Creek to its 
source in a large meadow, known as Westfall's, and 3,100 feet above Clark's, 
or 7,100 above the sea. Here are two houses, Westfall's and Ostrander's, 
sometimes occupied during the summer by herders of sheep, and which have 
often afforded a kind of shelter, poor, but better than none, to persons 
overtaken by night, or too much fatigued to go farther. Usually, however, 
this is the lunch place, or half-way house between Clark's and the Valley, as 
will be easily recognized from the number of empty tin cans lying about. 
That we are respectably high up in the Sierra is rendered evident by the 
predominance of the Finns contorta, a rather small tree, with its leaves short 
and in pairs, usually called " tamarack " by the settlers. This and the noble 
firs (Picea grandis and amabilis) form here almost the whole of the forests. 

From Ostrander's, about half a mile northeast of Westfall's, a trail has 
been blazed by the Geological Survey to Sentinel Dome, of which more, in 
the next chapter. Not far from Westfall's is a ridge, easily accessible, from 
which a fine view may be had of the Merced Group of mountains ; 
Ostrander's Rocks (see map) are also an excellent point from which to survey 
the country. 

From Westfall's to the edge of the Yosemite, the trail passes over a 
rolling, plateau-like country, traversing low ridges with meadows between, and 
rising in its highest point to 3,426 feet above Clark's, or 7,400 above the 
sea. At Inspiration Point the traveller gets his first view of a portion 
of the Yosemite, and here we will leave him, while we enter on a description 
of the Valley itself, leaving the account of this, and other views to be 
had from the outside of the walls, for another place. 

The Yosemite Valley is nearly in the centre of the State north and south, 
and just midway between the east and west bases of the Sierra, here a little 
over seventy miles wide. Its shape and position will be best understood 
by referring to the two maps which accompany this volume. One is that 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 57 

prepared by Mr. Gardner for the Commissioners, and inchiding only the 
Valley and its immediate surroundings ; this is on a scale of two inches 
to a mile. The other, from the surveys of Messrs. Hoffmann and Gardner, 
embraces the Valley and the region adjacent for twenty miles in each 
direction ; the scale of this is half an inch to a mile. The Valley is a 
nearly level area, about six miles in length and from half a mile to a mile 
in width, sunk almost a mile in perpendicular depth below the general level 
of the adjacent region. It may be roughly likened to a gigantic trough 
hollowed in the mountains, nearly at right angles to their regular trend ; that 
is to say, North 60° East, the direction of the axis of the Sierra being, 
as before stated, North 31° West. This trough, as will be seen by reference 
to the map, is quite irregular, having several re-entering angles and square 
recesses, let back, as it were, into its sides ; still, a general northeast-by- 
easterly direction is maintained in the depression, until we arrive near its 
upper end, when it turns sharply, at right-angles almost, and soon divides 
into three branches, through either of which we may, going up a series 
of gigantic steps, as it were, ascend to the general level of the Sierra. Down 
' each of these branches, or canons, descend streams, forks of the Merced, 
coming down the steps in a series of stupendous waterfalls. At its lower 
end, the Valley contracts into a narrow gorge, or canon, with steeply inclined 
walls, and not having the U shape of the Yosemite, but the usual V form 
of California valleys. 

The principal features of the Yosemite, and those by which it is dis- 
tinguished from all other known valleys, are : first, the near approach to 
verticality of its walls ; second, their great height, not only absolutely, but 
as compared with the width of the Valley itself; and, finally, the very small 
amount of talus or debris at the base of these gigantic cliffs. These are the 
great characteristics of the Yosemite throughout its whole length ; but, 
besides these, there are many other striking peculiarities, and features both 
of sublimity and beauty, which can hardly be surpassed, if equalled, by those 
of any mountain valleys in the world. Either the domes or the waterfalls 
of the Yosemite, or any single one of them even, would be sufficient in any 
European country to attract travellers from far and wide in all directions. 
Waterfalls in the vicinity of the Yosemite, surpassing in beauty many of 
those best known and most visited in Europe, are actually left entirely 



58 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

unnoticed by travellers, because there are so many other objects of interest 
to be visited that it is impossible to find time for them all. 

In describing the Yosemite, we will first give the necessary details in regard 
to the different objects of interest in and about the Valley, following it 
upward, and supposing the traveller to enter from the Mariposa side. In 
doing this, we will point out the prominent objects, in the order in which 
they present themselves, giving the statistics of their elevation and dimen- 
sions, so far as required or ascertained ; after this has been done, we can 
enter into more general considerations in regard to the Valley and its 
surroundings, speaking of it as a whole, after due description of its parts. 

In descending the Mariposa trail, a steep climb of 2,973 feet down to the 
bottom of the Valley, the traveller has presented to him a succession of views, 
all of which range over the whole extent of the principal Valley, revealing 
its dominant features, while at each new point of view he is brought nearer, 
and, as it were, more face to face with these gigantic objects. The principal 
points seen present themselves as follows : on the left is El Capitan, on the 
right the Bridal Veil Fall, coming down on the back side of the Cathedral 
Rocks, and in the centre the view of the Valley, and beyond into the canon 
of the Tenaya Fork of the Merced ; the point of the Half Dome is just 
visible over the ridge of which Sentinel Rock forms a part, and beyond it, in 
the farthest distance, Cloud's Rest is seen. A general idea of the Valley can 
be well obtained from this point, and in one view; but, as we ride up between 
the walls, new objects are constantly becoming visible, which at the lower 
end were entirely concealed. 

Of the cliffs around the Valley, El Capitan and the Half- Dome are the 
most striking; the latter is the higher, but it would be difficult to say 
which conveys to the mind the most decided impression of grandeur and 
massiveness. El Capitan is an immense block of granite, projecting squarely 
out into the Valley, and presenting an almost vertical sharp edge, 3,300 feet 
in elevation. (See Fig. 1.) The sides or walls of the mass are bare, smooth, 
and entirely destitute of vegetation. It is almost impossible for the observer 
to comprehend the enormous dimensions of this rock, which in clear weather 
can be distinctly seen from the San Joaquin plains, at a distance of fifty or 
sixty miles. Nothing, however, so helps to a realization of the magnitude 
of these masses about the Yosemite as climbing around and among them. 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY, 



59 



Fig. 1. 




EL CAI'ITAN AND THE BRIDAL VEIL FALL. 



Let the visitor begin to ascend the pile of debris which lies at the base of 
El Capitan, and he will soon find his ideas enlarged on the point in question. 
And yet these debris piles along the cliffs, and especially under El Capitan, 
are of insignificant size compared with the dimensions of the solid wall itself. 
They are hardly noticeable in taking a general view of the Valley. El Capitan 
imposes on vis by its stupendous bulk, which seems as if hewed from the 
mountains on purpose to stand as the type of eternal massiveness. It is 
doubtful if anywhere in the world there is presented so squarely cut, so lofty, 
and so imposing a face of rock. 

On the other side of the Valley we have the Bridal Veil Fall, unques- 
tionably one of the most beautiful objects in the Yosemite. It is formed 
by the creek of the same name, which rises a few miles east of Empire- 




: .- -^- : 

the V*Bct. we imc mm tie one nfc « Ae Bridal Yel 

«• ■fcili Tht hk of fH»«- i - J Beck kes km shra. (Set 7 

t» Aas lie*" de M uui fiver oocnpes <ke Jwaowu ad: Ike trees in the 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 



61 



Fig. 2. 




CATHKDItAI, ROCK. 



seem to fringe the summit of Cathedral Rock like small bushes are, in 
reality, firs and pines, as tall as those in the Valley, or even taller. Cathedral 
Rock is not so high nor so massive as El Capitan, nor ai - e its sides quite as 
nearly vertical. The summit is 2,660 feet above the Valley. Just beyond 
Cathedral Rock, on the same side, are the graceful pinnacles of rock called 
" The Spires." These spires are isolated columns of granite, at least 500 feet 
high, standing out from, but connected at the base with, the walls of the 
Valley. They are kept in obscurity, or brought out into wonderful relief, 
according to the different way the light or shadow falls upon them. The 
whole side of the Valley, along this part of it, is fantastically but exquisitely 
carved out into forms of gigantic proportions, which anywhere else, except in 



62 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

the Yosemite, would be considered objects of the greatest interest. From one 
point of view, these spires appear symmetrical, of equal height, squarely cut, 
and rising above the edge of the cliff behind exactly like two towers of a 
Gothic cathedral. 

The next prominent object, in going up the Valley, is the triple group 
of rocks known as the Three Brothers. These rise in steps one behind the 
other, the highest being 3,830 feet above the Valley. From the summit 
of this, there is a superb view of the Valley and its surroundings. The 
peculiar outline of these rocks, as seen from below, resembling three frogs 
sitting with their heads turned in one direction, is supposed to have sug- 
gested the Indian name Pompompasus, which means, we are informed, 
" Leaping Frog Bocks." 

Nearly opposite the Three Brothers is a point of rocks projecting into 
the Valley, the termination of which is a slender mass of granite, having 
something the shape of an obelisk, and called, from its peculiar position, 
or from its resemblance to a gigantic watch-tower, the " Sentinel Bock." Its 
form may be seen in Fig. 3, which was taken from a point on the Merced 
somewhat farther down the Valley. The obelisk form of the Sentinel 
continues down for a thousand feet or more from its summit ; below that it 
is united with the wall of the Valley. Its entire height above the river at 
its base is 3,043 feet. This is one of the grandest masses of rock in the 
Yosemite. 

From near the foot of Sentinel Bock, looking directly across the Valley, we 
have before us what probably most persons will admit to be, if not the most 
stupendous, at least the most attractive feature of the Yosemite ; namely, 
" the Yosemite Fall " par excellence, that one of all the falls about the Valley 
which is best entitled to bear that name. The woodcut, Plate 1, was taken 
among a group of oaks near the Lower Hotel, a point of view directly in 
front, and from which the various parts seem most thoroughly to be blended 
into one whole of surprising attractiveness. Even the finest photograph is, 
however, utterly inadequate to convey to the mind any satisfactory impression 
or realization of how many of the elements of grandeur and beauty are 
combined in this waterfall and its surroundings and accessories. The first 
and most impressive of these elements is, as in all other objects about the 
Yosemite, vertical height. In this it surpasses, it. is believed, any waterfall 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 



63 



Fig. 3. 




SENTINEL ROCK. 



in the world with anything like an equal body of water. And all the 
accessories of this fall are of a character worthy of, and commensurate with, 
its height, so that everything is added, which can he, to augment the 
impression which the descent of so large a mass of water from such a height 
could not fail, by itself, to produce. 

The Yosemite Fall is formed by a creek of the same name, which heads 
on the west side of the Mount Hoffmann Group, about ten miles northeast 
of the Valley. Being fed by melting snows exclusively, and running through 
its whole course over almost bare granite rock, its volume varies greatly at 
different times and seasons, according to the amount of snow remaining 



64 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

unrnelted, the temperature of the air and the clearness or cloudiness of the 
weather. In the spring, when the snow first begins to melt with rapidity, 
the volume of water is very great ; as ordinarily seen by visitors in the most 
favorable portion of the season, — say from May to July,' — the qxiantity will 
be about that represented in the wood-cut ; still later, it shrinks down 
to a very much smaller volume. We estimated the size of the stream at the 
summit of the fall, at a medium stage of water, to be twenty feet in width 
and two feet in average depth. Mr. J. F. Houghton measured the Yosemite 
Creek below the fall June 17th, 1865, and found it to be thirty-seven feet 
wide and twenty-five inches deep, with the velocity of about a mile an hour, 
giving about half a million cubic feet as passing over the fall in an hour.* 
At the highest stage of water there is probably three times as much as this. 
The vertical height of the lip of the fall above the Valley is, in round 
numbers, 2,600 feet, our various measurements giving from 2,537 to 2,641, 
the discrepancies being due to the fact that a near approach to, or a precise 
definition of, the place where the perpendicular portion of the fall commences 
is not possible. The lip or edge of the fall is a great rounded mass of 
granite, polished to the last degree, on which it was found to be a very 
hazardous matter to move. A difference of a hundred feet, in a fall of this 
height, would be entirely imperceptible to most eyes. 

The fall is not in one perpendicular sheet. There is first a vertical descent 
of 1,500 feet, when the water strikes on what seems to be a projecting ledge; 
but which, in reality, is a shelf or recess, almost a third of a mile back from 
the front of the lower portion of the cliff. From here the water finds its 
way, in a series of cascades, down a descent equal to 626 feet perpendicular, 
and then gives one final plunge of about 400 feet on to a low talus of rocks 
at the base of the precipice. The whole arrangement and succession of the 
different parts of the fall can be easily understood by ascending to the base 
of the Upper Fall, which is a very interesting and not a difficult climb, 
or from Sentinel Dome, on the opposite side of the Valley, where the 
spectator is at a considerable distance above its edge, f As the various 

* Our measurements gave about 220 cubic feet as the amount of water passing over the fall in 
one second. 

t The exact distance from the Sentinel Dome across in a straight line to the edge of the Upper 
Yosemite Fall is two and a half miles. 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 65 

portions of the fall are nearly in one .vertical plane, the effect of the whole 
is nearly as grand, and perhaps even more picturesque, than it would be 
if the descent were made in one leap from the top of the cliff to the level 
of the Valley. Nor is the grandeur or beauty of the fall perceptibly 
diminished, by even a very considerable diminution of the quantity of water 
from its highest stage. One of the most striking features of the Yosemite 
Fall is the vibration of the upper portion from one side to the other, under 
the varying pressure of the wind, which acts with immense force on so long 
a column. The descending mass of water is too great to allow of its being 
entirely broken up into spray ; but it widens out very much towards the 
bottom, — probably to as much as 300 feet, at high water, the space through 
which it moves being fully three times as wide. This vibratory motion 
of the Yosemite and Bridal Veil falls is something peculiar, and not observed 
in any others, so far as we know ; the effect of it is indescribably grand, 
especially under the magical illumination of the full moon. 

The cliff a little east of the Yosemite Fall rises in a bold peak to the 
height of 3,030 feet above the Valley ; it can be reached up Indian Canon, 
a little farther east, and from this point a magnificent view of the whole 
region can be obtained. The ascent to the summit of the fall and the 
return to the Valley can be made in one day, but only by good mountain 
climbers. 

Following up the Valley for about two miles above the Yosemite Falls, we 
find that the main portion of it comes to an end, and that it suddenly 
branches out in three distinct but much narrower canons, as they would 
be called by Californians, each of which, however, has some new wonders 
to disclose. The Merced River keeps the middle one of these, and its course 
is here about the same that it was below, or nearly west; it holds this 
direction nearly up to the base of the Mount Lyell Group, where it heads, 
between the main crest of the Sierra and the parallel subordinate or side 
range called by us the Merced or Obelisk Group. In the left hand, or 
northwesterly canon, the Tenaya Fork of the Merced comes down, and in the 
right hand, or southwesterly one, the South Fork,* or the Illilouette. 

* This is the " South Fork of the Middle Fork," and not the main South Fork, which flows by 
Clark's Ranch. To avoid confusion, it will be well to call it by the Indian name, Illilouette, one not 
yet much in use in the Valley. 
9 



66 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



• At the angle where the Yosemite branches we have, on the north side, the 
rounded columnar mass of rock called the Washington Column, and imme- 
diately to the left of it the immense arched cavity called the " Royal 
Arches," and over these is seen the dome-shaped mass called the North 
Dome, shown in Fig. 4. 

Fig. 4. 




THE NORTH DOME. 



The North Dome, rising to 3,568 feet above the Valley, is one of those 
rounded masses of granite which are not imcommon in the Sierra Nevada. 
These dome-shaped masses are somewhat characteristic of all granitic regions, 
but are nowhere developed on so grand a scale as in the Sierra. An 
examination of the figure will show that the North Dome is made up of 
huge concentric plates of rock, overlapping each other, in such a way as to 
absolutely prevent an ascent on the side presented to the Valley ; to the 
north, however, the Dome runs out in a long ridge, as represented on 




fa 
o 

o 

125 
"4 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 67 

the map, and from that side there is not the slightest difficulty in getting 
to the summit. 

The concentric structure of the North Dome is well seen in the Royal 
Arches, which are, in fact, a sort of appendage to its base. This peculiarity 
of structure pervades the whole mass of rock, and it is evident that these 
arches have been formed by the slipping down of immense plates of granite, 
the size of the cavity thus left being enormous, but not easily measured. 
The arches and the column, at the angle of the main Valley and the Tenaya 
Canon, seem as if intended to form a base of adequate magnitude and 
grandeur for the support of the Dome which rests upon them. 

The Half Dome, on the opposite side of the Tenaya Canon, is the loftiest 
and most imposing mass of those considered as part of the Yosemite. It is 
not so high as Cloud's Rest, but the latter seems rather to belong to the 
Sierra than to the Yosemite. The Half Dome is in sight, in the distance, 
as we descend the Mariposa trail, but is not visible in the lower part of 
the Valley itself; it is seen first when we come to the meadow opposite 
Hutchings's. The form of the Half Dome may be understood from Fig. 5 
and Plate II. In the one it is seen flatwise or in front, from below ; and in 
the other nearly edgewise, from above. It is a crest of granite, rising to the 
height of 4,737 feet above the Valley, perfectly inaccessible, being probably 
the only one of all the prominent points about the Yosemite which never 
has been, and never will be, trodden by human foot. The summit of the 
Half Dome runs in a northeast and southwest direction, parallel with the 
canon ; it rises on the southwest side with a grand, regular dome-like form, 
but falls off rapidly in a series of steps as it descends to the northeast. At 
right angles with this, or crosswise of the mass, the section is very peculiar. 
On the side fronting Tenaya Canon, it is absolutely vertical for 2,000 feet 
or more from the summit, and then falls off with a very steep slope, of 
probably 60 or 70 degrees, to the bottom of the canon. This slope, 
however, is not, as one would suppose, a talus of fragments fallen from 
above ; it is a mass of granite rock, part and parcel of the solid structure 
of the Dome ; the real debris pile at the bottom is absolutely insignificant 
in dimensions compared with the Dome itself. On the opposite face the Half 
Dome is not absolutely vertical ; it has a rounded form at the top, and 
grows more and more steep at the bottom. In Plate II. we see only the top 



68 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 
Fie. 5. 




^ 



THE HALF DOME. 



of the Half Dome and a portion of the back, the view being taken from 
a point not exactly in a line -with its edge. The -whole appearance of the 
mass is that of an originally dome-shaped elevation, -with an exceedingly 
steep curve, of which the western half has been split off and become 
engulfed. This geological theory of its formation appears to have forced 
itself upon those •who gave it the name " Half Dome," which is one that 
seems to suggest itself, at the first sight of this truly marvellous crest of 
rock. From the upper part of the Valley, and from all the heights about 
it, the Half Dome presents itself as an object of the most imposing grandeur. 
It has not the massiveness of El Capitan, but is more astonishing, and 
probably there are few visitors to the Valley who would not concede to it 
the first place among all the wonders of the region. Even the most casual 
observer must recognize in it a new revelation of mountain grandeur. Those 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 69 

who have not seen it could never comprehend its extraordinary form and 
proportions, not even with the aid of photographs. It is entirely unique 
in the Sierra Nevada ; and, so far as we know, in the world. The only 
possible rival would be the Matterhorn. Each is unique in its way ; but the 
forms of the two are so different that they will hardly bear comparison. 

Farther up the canon of the Tenaya is a beautiful little lake called 
" Mirror Lake," an expansion of the Tenaya Fork. It is frequently visited, 
and best early in the morning, for the purpose of getting the reflection from 
its unruffled surface of a noble overhanging mass of rock, to which the name 
of Mount Watkins has been given, as a compliment to the photographer who 
has done so much to attract attention to this region. 

Still farther up the Tenaya Fork, on the right-hand side, is "Cloud's 
Rest," the somewhat fanciful designation of a long, bare, steep, and extremely 
elevated granite ridge, which connects the Valley with the High Sierra. 
This point is one of the few which have not been measured by the Geological 
Survey ; it is perhaps a thousand feet higher than the Half Dome, or nearly 
10,000 feet above the sea-level. 

Following up the Tenaya Fork canon, we find the creek coming down in a 
series of cascades and waterfalls through an almost impassable gorge ; but 
through which access may be had, by good climbers, to the trail from Big 
Oak Flat to Mono Lake. It is, however, not passable for animals. 

We return now to the canon of the main Merced River, which also has 
its own peculiar wonders to disclose. Leaving the Yosemite Valley proper, 
at the angle spoken of before, where the three canons unite, we follow up 
the Merced, soon crossing the Illilouette, which carries perhaps a third 
or a quarter as much water as the main river. Rising rapidly on a trail 
which runs along near the river, over the talus of great angular masses 
fallen from above, we ride a little less than a mile, and nearly to the base 
of the first of the two great falls made by the Merced in coming down 
from the level of the plateau above into the Yosemite Valley. In doing 
this, the river descends, in two miles, over 2,000 feet, making, besides innu- 
merable cascades, two grand falls, which are among the greater attractions 
of the Yosemite, not only on account of their height and the large body 
of water in the river during most of the season, but also on account of 
the stupendous scenery in the midst of which they are placed. 



70 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The first fall reached in ascending the canon is the Vernal, a perpendicular 
sheet of water with a descent varying greatly with the season. Our measure- 
ments give all the way from 315 to 475 feet for the vertical height of 
the fall, between the months of June and October. The reason of these 
discrepancies seems to lie in the fact that the rock near the bottom is 
steeply inclined, so that a precise definition of the place where the perpen- 
dicular part ceases is very difficult amid the blinding spray and foam. As 
the body of water increases, the force of the fall is greater, and of course 
it is thrown farthest forward when the mass of water is greatest. Probably 
it is near the truth to call the height of the fall, at the average stage 
of water in June or July, 400 feet. The rock behind this fall is a perfectly 
square cut mass of granite extending across the canon, and it is wonderful 
to see, at low water, how little the eroding effect of the river has had to do 
with the formation of the canon and fall. It would seem as if causes now 
in action had little or nothing to do with the formation of this step in 
the descent of the Merced to any Valley below. In Plate II. we see the 
Vernal Fall in the distance, a little to the right of the centre of the picture ; 
beyond it, and still a little farther to the right, is Mount Broderick or the 
"Cap of Liberty." 

The path up the side of the canon near the fall winds around and along 
a steeply sloping mountain-side, always wet with the spray, and consequently 
rather slippery in places. Ladies, however, find no great difficulty in passing, 
with the aid of friendly arms, and protected by stout boots and india-rubber 
clothing brought from the hotel. The perpendicular part of the ascent is 
surmounted by the aid of ladders, which shoiild be replaced by a substantial 
and well-protected staircase. At the summit of the fall the view down the 
canon, as well as in the opposite direction, is extremely fine. A remarkable 
parapet of granite runs along the edge of the Vernal Fall for some distance, 
just breast-high, and looking as if made on purpose to afford the visitor a 
secure position from which to enjoy the scene. 

From the Vernal Fall up stream, for the distance of about a mile, the 
river may be followed, and it presents a succession of cascades and rapids 
of great beauty. As we approach the Nevada Fall, the last great one of the 
Merced, we have at every step something new and impressive. The view 
represented in the annexed woodcut (Fig. 6) was taken a little above the 



THE YOSEMITB VALLEY. 



71 



summit of the Vernal Fall ; it represents the Nevada Fall, as seen at the 
distance of something less than a mile, and on the left as much of the mass 
of the Cap of. Liberty as could be included in the picture. This latter is 



Fig. 6. 




THE CAP OF LIBERTY AND THE NEVADA FALL. 



a grand mass of rock, isolated and nearly perpendicular on all sides, rising 
perhaps 2,000 feet above its base, and little inferior to the Half Dome in 
grandeur. It has been climbed, and has on its summit, according to Mr. 
Hutchings's statement, a juniper-tree of enormous diameter. 

The Nevada Fall is, in every respect, one of the grandest waterfalls in the 
world, whether we consider its vertical height, the purity and volume of the 
river which forms it, or the stupendous scenery by which it is environed. 
The fall is not quite perpendicular, as there is near the summit a ledge 
of rock which receives a portion of the water and throws it off with a peculiar 
twist, adding considerably to the general picturesque effect (see woodcut). 



72 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

A determination of the height of the fall was not easy, on account of the 
blinding spray at the bottom, and the uncertainty of the exact spot where 
the water strikes. Indeed, this seems to vary in the Nevada as well, although 
not so much, as in the Vernal Fall. Our measurements made the Nevada 
from 591 to 639 feet, at different times and seasons. To call the Vernal 
400 and the Nevada 600 feet, in round numbers, will be near enough to the 
truth. The descent of the river in the rapids between the two falls is nearly 
300 feet. 

In the canon of the South Fork, or Illilouette, there is a fine fall estimated 
at 600 feet high. It is seen from a point on the trail from the Hotel to 
Mirror Lake, although but rarely visited by travellers, the canon being rough 
and difiicxdt to climb. A trail should be made up this gorge, to give access 
to the fall, and to the superb views to be had of the back of the Half 
Dome, the Vernal Fall, and other interesting points. 

Having thus run rapidly through the list of objects in the Valley best 
known and most likely to be visited, we will give a more systematic and 
general account of the Yosemite, — its botany, topography, and geology ; this 
will enable us to bring forward some interesting considerations which could 
not so well be introduced in a detailed enumeration, in a geographical order, 
of the points of interest. 

The Yosemite Valley, proper — that is to say, what would be considered 
by the visitor as naturally included under that designation — may be described 
as consisting of three parts, the bottom of the Valley, or the actual Valley, 
the talus or debris slope, and the walls, or the vertical or nearly vertical solid 
rock. Each of these parts will be noticed in order. First, the bottom, or 
Valley proper. This is a nearly level area, having a gentle slope, with the 
river, to the southwest, of only 35 feet between the junctions of the Tenaya 
Fork and the Bridal Veil Creek with the main river, four miles and a half 
in a straight line. The width of the space between the debris slopes is very 
variable. In the upper half of the Valley it averages somewhat less than 
half a mile. A little below the Three Brothers it closes to an eighth of a 
mile in width ; and between El Capitan and Cathedral Rock the river 
" canons," to use a California phrase, meaning that the Valley is narrowed 
down, so that there is only just room for the river to pass. Below this, 
it opens out again, and forms two charming little patches of meadow, of 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 73 

about 20 acres each in extent. There are, altogether, 1,141 acres of land 
in the Valley proper, of which 745 are meadow, and the remainder a sandy 
soil, a little more elevated, partly covered with a sparse growth of forest 
trees and partly with pertinacious ferns. The elevation of the bottom of the 
Valley above the sea-level is, in round numbers, 4,000 feet. The mean of 
our observations, in June, was 4,046 feet ; those taken by Miss Sproat, 
in October, gave, as calculated by Colonel R. S. Williamson, 3,935 feet. The 
mean of these results is 3,990 feet, and that is probably not far from the 
truth. Through the Valley flows the Merced River, about 70 feet in width, 
making many sharp and curiously angular bends, touching the talus first on 
one side and then on the other. 

Along the banks of the river, and over the adjacent rather swampy 
meadows, we find a somewhat varied vegetation, according to the locality, 
the narrow portions of the Valley differing considerably from the broader 
ones. In the former, near the falls, there is a dense growth of alder (Alnus 
viridis), which sometimes forms quite a large tree, with ash-colored bark ; 
associated with this are small trees of Rhamnus Menziesii, remarkable for its 
large and sombre leaves. A few willows, the Douglas spruce (Abies Douglasii), 
and, in the upper part of the Valley, an occasional sugar pine, are also found 
in this position. Where the Valley widens out, and the river banks become 
lower, so that sloughs and swamps are formed, the Balm of Gilead poplar 
(Popidus balsamifera) comes in ; this is a common tree in the Valley, and is 
usually mistaken for the Cottonwood ; with this, occur large willows and 
abundance of the Douglas spruce, and also the Azalea occidentalis, whose 
superb white and fragrant flowers form one of the charms of the Valley. 
Hellenium grandiflorum, Nutt., with its numerous yellow flowors, is a showy 
and conspicuous plant on and near the river banks. The meadows are 
swampy, with a deep peaty soil ; their vegetation consists chiefly of carices 
or sedges and a few coarse grasses (Calamagrostis Canadensis, Beauv., Plvrag- 
mites communis, L., Glyceria nervata, Trin.). In a small pond on Mr. 
Hutchings's farm, the yellow pond-lily (Nuphar advena, Ait.) occurs. At the 
upper part of the side canons and near the falls, the Vernal especially, 
the cryptogamic vegetation is most abundantly developed. Where the rocks 
are kept moistened by the spray, numerous mosses thrive ; and even on the 
hill-slopes, as far as the moisture reaches, the peat moss (Sphagnum) grows. 
10 



74 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The shelving rocks in such positions are decorated with several species of 
most graceful ferns. About the Vernal Fall, the following species occur, all 
of rare beauty : Adiantum pedatum, Kaulf, Pelloea densa, Hook., P. Bridgesii, 
Hook., P. mucronata, Eat., Cheilanthes gracillima, Eat., Polypodum Calif or- 
nicum, Kaulf., Aspidium argutum, Kaulf., and Cystopteris fragilis, Bernh. 

The sandy region of the Valley proper forms a connecting strip along the 
edge of the rocky talus, on both sides of the river. It is quite irregular in 
width ; but it makes up the largest portion of the Valley above Indian 
Canon. It has evidently been formed by the disintegration and washing 
down of the finer portions of the debris from the walls. The soil is a coarse, 
loose, deep sand, containing but little vegetable matter, and becoming finer, 
more compact, and more fertile as it approaches the river. This is peculiarly 
the arboriferous belt of the Valley, and various portions of its area exhibit 
different characters of vegetation to correspond with the differences of soil. 
On the drier and looser portions, the pitch (or yellow) pine (P. ponderosa) 
and the bastard cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) are the most abundant and 
characteristic trees ; both these species occur of considerable size and of fine 
proportions, the pines being usually from 125 to 150 feet high. Below 
the Bridal Veil Fall, near the debris, the fir (Picea grandis), a noble tree, 
comes in ; near the swampy land, the black oak (Q. Sonomensis) is abundant. 
The sandy region also bears a great number and variety of shrubs and 
undergrowth ; among these are : the Cornus JVuttallii, with its showy white 
flowers, three inches in diameter ; Rubus Nutlcanus, the most beautiful of the 
raspberries, and found from Lake Superior west ; also the characteristic 
California shrub, manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). Among the lower shrubs 
are : the wild rose (Rosa blanda) ; Pentstemon Icetus, with its beautiful blue 
flowers ; Hosackia grandijiora, also with brilliant flowers ; also, in places, the 
Frangula Galifornica, forming dense thickets ; the same is true of the low 
willow. The common brake (Pteris aquilina) is very abundant and sometimes 
very large. The curious Spjraguea umbellata, one of the most characteristic 
flowers of the Valley, is also abundant in the sandy region. In places, 
especially below the Bridal Veil Fall, Comandra tirnbellata, Silene compacta, 
and Chcenactis achillcefolia cover the ground. An examination of the different 
woodcuts will show how the vegetation is distributed in the Valley, and the 
most characteristic trees will easily be recognized. 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 75 

The meadows and sandy portions, described above as constituting the 
bottom of the Valley, contain all the land in the Yosemite which can be 
utilized for any purpose, such as building or cultivation. The talus or debris, 
the second great division, forms steeply sloping masses of rocky fragments 
piled along the base of the cliffs, on both sides and from one end of the 
Valley to the other. Only in a very few places do the nearly vertical walls 
come squarely down to the level of the Valley, without any intervening talus. 
These places are easily recognized upon the map. The talus, however, is 
everywhere of insignificant height compared with the cliffs themselves, this 
being, as before remarked, one of the characteristic features of the Valley. 
The debris lies chiefly in the receding or re-entering angles, and in the 
canons or gorges down which the smaller streams flow into the Valley. It is 
least conspicuous around some of the more prominent and elevated jn'ojecting 
points, as the Three Brothers, El Capitan, and the Cathedral Rock. Singu- 
larly enough, there is also very little debris at the foot of the Yosemite Fall ; 
while, on the opposite side of the Valley, the talus is exceptionally wide. On 
examining the woodcuts, it will be noticed at once how little the talus 
has to do with producing the general effect of the Yosemite ; in most of 
them it can hardly be recognized as existing at all. 

The most characteristic tree of the debris piles is, perhaps, the mountain 
live-oak (Q. chrysolepis, Liebm.), which is associated, in the higher portions, 
with the common shrubby evergreen oak of the higher Sierras, perhaps the 
Q. vaccinifolia of Kellogg. In the vicinity of the points where small streams 
come over the precipices, we find the Oregon maple (Acer macrophyllum, 
Pursh), with its large and deeply cut leaves, and, in the higher portions 
of the debris, another maple (Acer glabrum, Torr.), a shrub, 10 or 15 feet 
high, whose delicate branches, long peduncled leaves, and clusters of reddish 
seed make it an object conspicuous for its beauty. Near the base of the 
debris, where the streams of the smaller waterfalls emerge, the California 
laurel (Tetranthera Califomica) occurs as a small tree, with smooth brilliant 
evergreen foliage and aromatic odor. Among the smaller plants, we have 
several beautiful species of Pentstemon ; one with brilliant scarlet flowers (P. 
Menziesii, Hook.) is very conspicuous. Bahia confertiftora, a low shrub, with 
densely clustered yellow flowers, is also abundant. A number of species of 
grasses, of great interest to the botanist, also occur in this position ; and 



76 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

in the crevices of the rocks the beautiful little fern Cheilanthus gracillima, 
with several others equally graceful, occurs. 

The slope along the descent by which the Mariposa trail winds into the 
Valley offers, also, an interesting and peculiar grouping of species. Oaks, 
pines, and firs make up the forest, and with these is a profusion of flowering 
shrubs, some of which are very showy. Among these are the Ceanothus 
integerrimus, H. & A., with its dense clusters of white or pale-blue and 
fragrant flowers, often called the " beauty of the Sierra " ; the C. divaricatus, 
Nutt., with fragrant blue flowers ; Philadelphus Calif or nicus, with large white 
flowers; an occasional "poison oak" (Rhus diversiloba, T. & G.) ; also the 
"snow plant" or "ice plant" (Sarcodes sanguinea, Torr.), the whole of which 
is of a brilliant red, like a tongue of flame issuing from the ground ; and, 
especially, the great white Lily of the Sierra (Lilium Umquaensis ?), perhaps 
the most superb and deliciously fragrant flower of California. 

The salient and most striking points in the walls of the Yosemite have 
already been passed rapidly in review. The whole Valley, however, is sur- 
rounded by this wall, and the objects particularly noticed were only such 
portions of it as attract general and immediate attention, owing to some 
peculiarity of form or position. Every portion of the Yosemite wall is 
sublime ; and where there is so much to be seen, and where every object can 
be seen from so many different points of view, there is hardly any limit to 
the combinations of the different elements of landscape beauty, which can 
be obtained by change of position and change of illumination. The color 
of the granite of the walls is a light gray, — brilliantly white, generally, when 
the sun's light is reflected from it. It is, in places, diversified with veins 
of a brighter or deeper hue ; but these patches of color are not conspicuous 
enough to produce much effect. More character is given by the vertical 
parallel lines of darker color, — gray, brown, and black, — with which portions 
of the walls are striped. These are the result of the flowing down of water, 
in the line of most direct descent, over the face of the cliffs, carrying 
organic matter in solution or suspension. These stains are very conspicuous, 
and not at all ungraceful, on the Royal Arches, as well as on El Capitan 
and other vertical cliffs. The general effect of the cliffs, as to color, is 
dazzling in the sunlight ; but it is the brilliancy of cold colors, not of warm 
ones, and the various oil paintings of the Yosemite, representing a rich golden 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 77 

haze as pervading and giving its hue to everything in the Valley, are simply 
and entirely untrue to nature. The beauty of color comes rather from the 
intensity of the contrast of the gray rock with the brilliant vegetation of the 
Valley bottom, and, in a less degree, with that of the canons and the edge 
of the cliffs. 

Although there is no exit from the Yosemite for a mounted traveller, 
except by one of the two trails winding up the steep slope at the lower end 
of the Valley, there are several places where a footman can find his way out 
without any difficulty, except that naturally resulting from a climb up a 
steep slope of angular rocks, equal in vertical rise to 3,000 feet and more. 
Tourists have occasionally climbed up Indian Canon to the head of the 
Yosemite Fall (see map), and also up the gorge by the side of Sentinel 
Rock, to get to its summit and to the Sentinel Dome. Thei-e are places 
where one could climb up, apparently, near the Cathedral, a little below El 
Capitan, and between El Capitan and the Three Brothers ; but we are not 
aware that they have ever been tried. Persons who are not accustomed 
to climbing, and especially ladies, are strongly advised to ride out of the 
Valley on the regular trails, when they wish to make excursions on the 
outside, rather than risk getting over-fatigued in performing acrobatic feats, 
which are not at all necessary to enable one to see and enjoy the whole 
region. More than one person, however, has climbed, stocking-footed in some 
particularly ticklish places, up the cliff on the left-hand side of the Yosemite 
Fall, along the ledges, when there is room, if not for a foothold, at least 
for a toe-hold. We have never heard that any serious accident has happened 
to visitors to the Yosemite, but too much caution cannot be used, by ladies 
especially, in regard to over-fatiguing themselves. 

Some general statements as to the waterfalls of the Yosemite, in addition 
to what has already been said on this subject, may here be introduced. The 
principal falls about the Valley have already been described ; but there are 
several others not yet mentioned which are worthy of notice. It is only 
early in the season, while the snow on the summits immediately adjacent 
to the Valley is melting, that the " grandes eaux " of this national park 
Can be said to be in play. Indeed, at such times, and especially after the 
first few warm days in the spring, there are large numbers of small streams 
discharging themselves over the cliffs, and each, of course, producing a water- 



78 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

fall proportionate in picturesque effect to the amount of water it furnishes. 
Of these minor falls, there are several which continue for a considerable 
time ; others are quite short-lived. The Virgin's Tears Fall is one of the 
finest of the former; in 1867 it was quite a fine sight in June. There is 
another, nearly opposite, on a stream called Meadow Brook, which is well 
seen by those coming into the Valley on the Mariposa trail early in the 
season. A stream heading at Ostrander's Eocks comes down near Sentinel 
Rock, in a kind of " Buttermilk Fall," or series of step-like cascades, until 
all the snow at its head has disappeared. The fall over the Royal Arches 
also keeps itself alive for some time, with quite a body of water coming 
down from the North Dome, and on the opposite side the Sentinel Dome 
also furnishes its quota towards keeping up the high display of the Yosemite. 
There are as many reasons, then, as there are waterfalls in the Valley, why 
the traveller should visit the Yosemite early in the season. It is true that 
some visitors who have arrived too late to see the falls in their grandeur 
have voted them, if not "humbugs," at least non-essential to the glory of 
the Yosemite. They have been so much impressed with the mighty cliffs 
and domes that they have not conceived it possible that such sublimity 
could be heightened by the introduction of any additional features. It is 
true that the Valley has about it, aside from its waterfalls, that which will 
amply repay the traveller for the time and labor required for his visit ; but 
it is not true that such natural objects as the Yosemite, the Vernal, or 
Nevada Falls, seen with all their glorious surroundings, do not immeasurably 
enhance the attractions of the Valley. The traveller should endeavor, if 
possible, to visit the region just as the last snow is disappearing from the 
plateau ; and, as soon as the trail is made on a lower level, as suggested 
above, he will be able to do so with ease and comfort at a considerably 
earlier period than now. May, June, and July are the most favorable 
months ; and even April, in some years, would not be too early. Of the 
principal falls in the Valley, only the Vernal and Nevada continue in 
existence through the season. The Yosemite and the Bridal Veil shrink 
almost to nothing by August or September. This is the result of the 
peculiar climate of California, by which rains are, even in the mountains, 
almost entirely dispensed with during the six summer months, so that the 
streams have to be fed exclusively from melting snow. As every rule has its 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 79 

exception, it sometimes happens here that heavy thunder-showers around the 
Valley raise the streams suddenly, in midsummer, to the highest point of 
their winter flow. This occurred in 1867, when a violent thunder-storm 
at the head of the Merced, in June, raised the South Fork at Clark's ranch 
and the Yosemite Creek several feet, within half an hour. This rain-fall was 
limited to a quite small area; hut a very large amount of water must have 
fallen in a short space of time. It was probably of the nature of one of 
those violent deluges, which not unfrequently occur in California, and which 
are generally known as " cloud-bursts." 

Some comparison of the principal falls in the Yosemite with the most 
celebrated ones in other parts of the world will be of interest to the tourist, 
as enabling him to form an opinion as to their relative attractiveness. There 
are several circumstances to be taken into consideration, however, in a com- 
parison of waterfalls. Absolute height and quantity of water are undoubtedly 
the two important elements ; but all the accessories have a share in pro- 
ducing the general effect. The fall is the picture ; but the value of it is 
wonderfully heightened or diminished, according to the more or less pictu- 
resque character of the frame in which it is set. Exactly what the relative 
importance of height and volume is, in producing the effect in different 
waterfalls, it is not easy to say. There are those on whom Niagara, with 
its immense mass of water, would produce a greater effect than the Yosemite, 
with its ten times greater height and its much more than ten times dimin- 
ished volume. Others, again, would consider the higher fall as much the 
more attractive, in spite of its comparatively small body of water. Niagara 
and the Zambesi are typical falls for volume ; but probably no one has seen 
both of these, so as to be able to institute a valuable comparison between 
them. 

The falls visited by tourists, in Europe, are very numerous ; but they all 
belong to the type of those which impress by their height and not by their 
volume, resembling in this respect the Yosemite Fall. The most celebrated 
are those of Norway and Switzerland ; but the highest of all is that of 
Gavarnie, in the Pyrenees, in which the vertical descent is 1,266 feet. In 
this fall the quantity of water is only just enough to form a dozen thin 
streams, trickling down the face of the rock, with one, a little larger than 
the others, which swings off as a white cord, twice broken by projecting 



80 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

ledges, and entirely dissipated in spray before it reaches the bottom. It is 
plain enough, then, that the fall of Gavarnie will not compare with that 
of the Yosemite either in volume or height. The fall of the Staubbach, in 
Switzerland, is about the height of the Bridal Veil ; but the quantity of 
water is extremely small, so that the effect is insignificant, compared even 
with that of the Virgin's Tears. The fall of the Aar, at Handek, makes 
a fine show, but is not, by any means, as imposing as the Vernal Fall, 
being inferior to it in elevation and in volume, and of course much behind 
the Nevada in both respects. 

The Voring Foss, in Norway, is generally admitted to be the finest 
waterfall in Europe ; its volume is about that of the Aar at Handek, and its 
height is estimated at 850 feet. It has never been measured, for it falls 
into an inaccessible chasm, which is only just as wide as the stream itself. 
As it can only be viewed from above, much of the impressiveness of the fall 
is lost. Mr. Brace, the author of the "Norse-Folk," who is probably the 
only person who has seen both the Yosemite Valley and the Voring Foss, 
considers the Norwegian falls to be far inferior to those of California. 

Asia and South America seem poorly provided with waterfalls ; at least, 
there are few described which can be mentioned in comparison with those 
of Europe and North America ; and it is likely that, if any of surpassing 
grandeur existed in those countries, they would have become known before 
this time. We are disposed to believe that a majority of cultivated lovers 
of natural scenery woidd admit the Yosemite Fall to surpass any in the 
world, as presenting the most perfect combinations of all the elements 
of the picturesque. Certainly, taking the whole region of the Yosemite 
together, with its five great falls, the lowest 400 feet and the highest 2,600, 
it must be allowed that, in this particular kind of scenery, it is a locality 
without a rival in the world. 

Although the Valley is, at present, almost inaccessible in the winter, and, 
indeed, entirely so to those who are not up in travelling on snow-shoes, it, is 
not unlikely that the time will soon come when a visit to it at that season 
will be considered as the "regular thing" for tourists, and when proper 
facilities for getting there will be provided. The views, at the time when 
the snow is still lying deep on the surrounding plateau, and thundering down 
in frequent avalanches from the domes and over the walls of the Valley ; or, 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 81 

a little later, when the streams are filled to repletion and pour themselves 
over the cliffs in literally unnumbered cascades ; when the Merced becomes 
a mad torrent, and hurries down its 2,000 feet of vertical descent in one 
wild mass of spray-enveloped waters, — all this is, as described by those who 
have seen it, of surpassing grandeur. The accumulation of ice at the base 
of the upper part of the Yosemite Fall is also spoken of as a most im- 
pressive feature in the winter view. The frozen spray forms a vast conical 
mass, rising sometimes to the height of a hundred feet or more, from which 
the falling water, rebounding, is shot off in graceful curves, forming an 
immense bouquet, each drop of which sparkles like a diamond in the sun. 

All will recognize in the Yosemite a peculiar and unique type of scenery. 
Cliffs absolutely vertical, like the upper portions of the Half Dome and El 
Capitan, and of such immense height as these, are, so far as we know, 
to be seen nowhere else. The dome form of mountains is exhibited on a 
grand scale in other parts of the Sierra Nevada ; but there is no Half Dome, 
even among the stupendous precipices at the head of the King's River. No 
one can avoid asking, What is the origin of this peculiar type of scenery 1 
How has this unique valley been formed, and what are the geological causes 
which have produced its wonderful cliffs, and all the other features which 
combine to make this locality so remarkable 1 These questions we will 
endeavor to answer, as well as our ability to pry into what went on in the 
deep-seated regions of the earth, in former geological ages, will permit. 

Most of the great canons and valleys of the Sierra Nevada have resxilted 
from aqueous denudation, and in no part of the world has this kind of work 
been done on a larger scale. The long-continued action of tremendous 
torrents of water, rushing with impetuous velocity down the slopes of the 
mountains, has excavated those immense gorges by which the chain of 
the Sierra Nevada is furrowed, on its western slope, to the depth of thousands 
of feet. This erosion, great as it is, has been clone within a comparatively 
recent period, geologically speaking, as is conclusively demonstrated in numerous 
localities. At the Abbey's Ferry crossing of the Stanislaus, for instance, 
a portion of the mass of Table Mountain is seen on each side of the river, 
in such a position as to demonstrate that the current of the lava which 
forms the summit of this mountain once flowed continuously across what is 
now a canon over 2,000 feet deep, showing that the erosion of that immense 
11 



82 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



Fig. 7. 




DISTANT VIEW OF TABLE MOUNTAIN. 



gorge has all been effected since the lava flowed down from the higher 
portion of the Sierra. This event took place, as we know from the fossil 
hones and plants embedded under the volcanic mass, at a very recent 
geological period, or in the latter part of the Tertiary epoch. Some even 
claim that it happened since the appearance of man on the earth ; but this, 
although not impossible, remains yet to be proved. Figures 7 and 8 and Plate 
III. show the varying forms and picturesque character of some of these 
outliers of volcanic materials. Fig. 7 represents Table Mountain in Tuo- 
lumne County, as seen from a point distant about twelve miles in a south- 
easterly direction. The long straight line of its upper edge, destitute of 
vegetation and dark colored, will easily be recognized. Fig. 8 represents a 
picturesque outlier of volcanic materials near Railroad Flat in Calaveras 
County, which is quite surrounded by ridges of this character, rising 600 
to 800 feet above the general level of the region, and indicating clearly the 
great erosion which has taken place since a recent geological period. 

The eroded canons of the Sierra, however, whose formation is due to the 
action of water, never have vertical walls, nor do their sides present the 
peculiar angular forms which are seen in the Yosemite, as, for instance, in El 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 



83 



Fig. 8. 







FORT HILL, — NEAR RAILROAD FLAT. 



Capitan, where two perpendicular surfaces of smooth granite, more than 3,000 
feet high, meet each other at a right angle. It is sufficient to look for a 
moment at the vertical faces of El Capitan and the Bridal Veil Rock, turned 
down the Valley, or away from the direction in which the eroding forces 
must have acted, to be able to say that aqueous erosion could not have been 
the agent employed to do any such work. The squarely cut re-entering 
angles, like those below El Capitan, and between Cathedral Rock and the 
Sentinel, or in the Illilouette canon, were never produced by ordinary erosion. 
Much less could any such cause be called in to account for the pecidiar 
formation of the Half Dome, the vertical portion of which is all above the 
ordinary level of the walls of the Valley, rising 2,000 feet, in sublime 
isolation, above any point which could have been reached by denuding 
agencies, even supposing the current of water to have filled the whole 
Valley. 

Much less can it be supposed that the peculiar form of the Yosemite 
is due to the erosive action of ice. A more absurd theory was never 
advanced than that by which it was sought to ascribe to glaciers the 
sawing out of these vertical walls and the rounding of the domes. Nothing 
more unlike the real work of ice, as exhibited in the Alps, could be found. 



84 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Besides, there is no reason to suppose, or at least no proof, that glaciers 
have ever occupied the Valley or any portion of it, as will be explained in 
the next chapter, so that this theory, based on entire ignorance of the whole 
subject, may be dropped without wasting any more time upon it. 

The theory of erosion not being admissible to account for the formation 
of the Yosemite Valley, we have to fall back on some one of those move- 
ments of the earth's crust to which the primal forms of mountain valleys are 
due. The forces which have acted to produce valleys are complex in their 
nature, and it is not easy to classify the forms which have resulted from 
them in a satisfactory manner. The two principal types of valleys, however, 
are those produced by rents or fissures in the crust, and those resulting from 
flexures or foldings of the strata. The former are usually transverse to the 
mountain chain in which they occur ; the latter are more frequently parallel 
to them, and parallel to the general strike of the strata of which the 
mountains are made up. Valleys which have originated in cross fractures 
are usually very narrow defiles, enclosed within steep walls of rocks, the 
steepness of the walls increasing with the hardness of the rock. It would 
be difficult to point to a good example of this kind of valley in California ; 
the famous defile of the Via Mala in Switzerland is one of the best which 
could be cited. Valleys formed by foldings of the strata are very common 
in many mountain chains, especially in those typical ones, the Jura and 
the Appalachians. Many of the valleys of the Coast Ranges are of this 
order. A valley formed in either one of the ways suggested above may 
be modified afterwards by forces pertaining to either of the others ; thus 
a valley originating in a transverse fissure may afterwards become much 
modified by an erosive agency, or a longitudinal flexure valley may have one 
of its sides raised up or let down by a " fault " or line of fissure running 
through or across it. 

If we examine the Yosemite to see if traces of an origin in either of the 
above ways can be detected there, we obtain a negative answer. The Valley is 
too wide to have been formed by a fissure ; it is about as wide as it is deep, 
and, if it had been originally a simple crack, the walls must have been moved 
bodily away from each other, carrying the whole chain of the Sierra with them, 
to one side or the other, or both, for the distance of half a mile. Besides, 
/ when a cliff has been thus formed, there will be no difficulty in recognizing the 



THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 85 

fact, from the correspondence of the outlines of the two sides ; just as, when 
we break a stone in two, the pieces must necessarily admit of being fitted 
together again. No correspondence of the two sides of the Yosemite can 
be detected, nor will the most ingenious contriving, or lateral moving, suffice 
to bring them into anything like adaptation to each other. A square' recess 
on one side is met on the other, not by a corresponding projection, but by a 
plain wall or even another cavity. These facts are sufficient to make the] '. 
adoption of the theory of a rent or fissure impossible. There is much ' 
the same difficulty in conceiving of the formation of the Valley by any 
flexure or folding process. The forms and outlines of the masses of rock 
limiting it are too angular, and have too little development in any one 
direction; they are cut off squarely at the upper end, where the ascent to 
the general level of the. country is by gigantic steps, and not by a gradual 
rise. The direction of the Valley, too, is transverse to the general line 
of elevation of the mountains, and not parallel with it, as it should be, 
roughly at least, were it the result of folding or upheaval. 

In short, we are led irresistibly to the adoption of a theory of the origin 
of the Yosemite in a way which has hardly yet been recognized as one 
of those in which valleys may be formed, probably for the reason that there 
are so few cases in which such an event can be absolutely proved to have I 
occurred. We conceive that, during the process of upheaval of the Sierra, 
or, possibly, at some time after that had taken place, there was at the 
Yosemite a subsidence of a limited area, marked by lines of " fault " or fissures 
crossing each other somewhat nearly at right angles. In other and more 
simple language, the bottom of the Valley sank down to an unknown depth, 
owing to its support being withdrawn from underneath, during some of those 
convulsive movements which must have attended the upheaval of so extensive 
and elevated a chain, no matter how slow we may imagine the process to 
have been. Subsidence, over extensive areas, of portions of the earth's crust, 
is not at all a new idea in geology, and there is nothing in this peculiar 
application of it which need excite surprise. It is the great amount of 
vertical displacement for the small area implicated which makes this a pecu- 
liar case ; but it would not be easy to give any good reason why such an 
exceptional result should not be brought about, amid the complicated play 
of forces which the elevation of a great mountain chain must set in motion. 



86 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

By the adoption of the subsidence theory for the formation of the Yosemite, 
we are able to get over one difficulty which appears insurmountable with any 
other. This is, the very small amount of debris at the base of the cliffs, 
and even, at a few points, its entire absence, as previously noticed in our 
description of the Valley. We see that fragments of rock are loosened by 
rain, frost, gravity, and other natural causes, along the walls, and probably 
not a winter elapses that some great mass of detritus does not come thun- 
dering down from above, adding, as it is easy to see from actual inspection 
of those slides which have occurred within the past few years, no incon- 
siderable amount to the talus. Several of these great rock-avalanches have 
taken place since the Valley was inhabited. One which fell near Cathedral 
Eock is said to have shaken the Valley like an earthquake. This abrasion 
of the edges of the Valley has unquestionably been going on during a vast 
period of time ; what has become of the detrital material 1 Some masses 
of granite now lying in the Valley — one in particular near the base of the 
Yosemite Fall — are as large as houses. Such masses as these could never 
have been removed from the Valley by currents of water; in fact, there is 
no evidence of any considerable amount of aqueous erosion, for the canon 
of the Merced below the Yosemite is nearly free from detritus, all the 
way down to the plain. The falling masses have not been carried out 
by a glacier, for there are below the Valley no remains of the moraines 
which such an operation could not fail to have formed. 

It appears to us that there is no way of disposing of the vast mass of 
detritus, which must have fallen from the walls of the Yosemite since the 
formation of the Valley, except by assuming that it has gone down to fill 
the abyss, which was opened by the subsidence which our theory supposes 
to have taken place. What the depth of the chasm may have been we have 
no data for computing ; but that it must have been very great is proved 
by the fact that it has been able to receive the accumulations of so long 
a period of time. The cavity was, undoubtedly, occupied by water, forming 
a lake of unsurpassed beauty and grandeur, until quite a recent epoch. The 
gradual desiccation of the whole country, the disappearance of the glaciers 
and the filling up of the abyss to nearly a level with the present outlet, 
where the Valley passes into a cation of the usual form, have converted the 
lake into a valley with a river meandering through it. The process of filling 



■ THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. 87 

up still continues, and the talus will accumulate perceptibly fast, although 
a long time must elapse before the general appearance of the Valley will 
be much altered by this cause, so stupendous is the vertical height of its 
walls, and so slow their crumbling away, at least as compared with the 
historic duration of time. 

Lake Tahoe and the valley which it partly occupies we conceive also to be, 
like the Yosemite, the result of local subsidence. It has evidently not been 
produced by erosion ; its depth below the mountains on each side, amounting 
to as much as 3,000 feet, forbids this idea, as do also its limited area and 
its parallelism with the axis of the chain. The Lake is still very deep, over 
1,000 feet ; but how deep it was originally, and how much detritus has been 
carried into it, we have no data for even crudely estimating. 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HIGH SIERRA. 

Having, in the last chapter, given as full a description of the Yosemite 
Valley as our space will permit, we proceed next to call the reader's attention 
to the higher region of the Sierra Nevada — the Alps of California, as the 
upper portion of this great chain of mountains is sometimes called ; this 
region we designate, for convenience, as the " High Sierra." It is, however, 
especially the elevated valleys and mountains which lie above and near the 
Yosemite that we wish to describe, and to endeavor to bring to the reader's 
notice, as this is not only a region central and easy of access, but one 
extremely picturesque, and offering to the lover of high mountain scenery 
every possible inducement for a visit. By adding a few more days to the 
time required for a trip to the Yosemite, the tourist may make himself 
acquainted with a type of scenery quite different from that of countries 
usually visited by pleasure travellers, and may enjoy the sight of as lofty 
snow-covered peaks, and as grand panoramic views of mountain and valley, 
as he can find in Switzerland itself. This region of the High Sierra in 
California is hardly yet opened to visitors, so far as the providing for them 
of public accommodations is concerned, for there is not a hotel, nor a per- 
manently inhabited house, anywhere near the crest of the Sierra, between 
the Silver Mountain road on the north and Walker's Pass on the south; but 
such is the mildness of the summer, and so steady is the clearness of the 
atmosphere in the Californian high mountains, that, with a very limited 
amount of preparation, one may make the tour outside of the Yosemite 
almost without any discomforts, and certainly without any danger. In the 
Sierra Nevada, the entire absence of severe storms during the summer, and 
the almost uninterrupted serenity of the sky, particularly invite to pleasure 
travel. The worrying delays and the serious risks of Alpine travel, caused 
by long-continued rains and storms of wind and hail, with their attendant 



THE HIGH SIEERA. 89 

avalanches of snow and rocks, are unknown in the Californian high moun- 
tains, and we have camped by the week together, in the constant enjoyment 
of the finest weather, at elevations which would seem too great for anything 
but hardship and discomfort. 

A comparison of the Swiss and Californian Alpine scenery is not easy, and 
yet it seems natural to wish to give some idea of the most striking features 
of the Sierra by referring for comparison, or contrast, to the mountain 
scenery of Switzerland, which has become the very focus of pleasure travel 
for the civilized world.* 

The much smaller quantity of snow and ice in the Sierra, as compared 
with regions of equal elevation in Switzerland, is the most striking feature 
of difference between the mountains of the two countries. In the Sierra we 
see almost exactly what would be presented to view in the Alps, if the 
larger portion of the ice and snow-fields were melted away. The marks 
of the old glaciers are there ; but the glaciers themselves are gone. The 
polished surfaces of the rocks, the moraines or long trains of detritus, and 
the strise engraved on the walls of the canons, — these speak eloquently of such 
an icy covering once existing here as now clothes the summits of the Alps. 

Another feature of the Sierra, as compared with the Alps, is the absence 
of the " Alpen," or those grassy slopes which occur above the line of forest 
vegetation, between that and the eternal snow, and which have given then* 
names to the mountains themselves. In the place of these, w r e have in the 
California mountains the forests extending quite up to the snow-line in many 
places, and everywhere much higher than in the Alps. The forests of the 
Sierra, and especially at elevations of 5,000 to 7,000 feet, are magnificent, 
both in the size and beauty of the trees, and far beyond any in the Alps; 
they constitute one of the most attractive features of the scenery, and yet 
they are somewhat monotonous in their uniformity of type, and they give 
a sombre tone to the landscape, as seen from a distance in their dark shades 
of green. The grassy valleys, along the streams, are extremely beautiful, but 
occupy only a small area ; and, especially, they do not produce a marked 
effect in the distant views, since they are mostly concealed behind the ranges, 
to one looking over the country from a high point. 

* There are probably ten times as many persons in California who have travelled for pleasure 
in Switzerland, as among these most interesting portions of the Sierra. 
12 



90 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The predominating features, then, of the High Sierra are sublimity and 
grandeur, rather than beauty and variety. The scenery will perhaps produce 
as much impression, at first, as that of the Alps, but will not invite so 
frequent visits, nor so long a delay among its hidden recesses. Its type is 
different from that of the Swiss mountains, and should be studied by those 
who wish to see Nature in all her variety of mountain gloom and mountain 
glory. The many in this country who do not have the opportunity of seeing 
the Alps should not miss the Sierra, if it be in their power to visit it. 

For a journey around the Yosemite, or in any portion of the High Sierra, 
mules or horses may be hired at Bear Valley, Mariposa, or Coulterville ; and 
the services of some one who will act as guide can be obtained, usually, at 
either of these places. But there are, as yet, no regular guides for the high 
mountains, and travel must increase considerably before any such will be 
found. A good pedestrian will often prefer to walk, and will pack his 
baggage on a horse or mule. For convenience and enjoyment, the party 
should consist of several persons. A good supply of blankets and of pro- 
visions, with a few simple cooking utensils, an axe, a light tent, substantial 
woollen clothes, and, above all, or rather under all, a pair of boots " made 
on honor," with the soles filled with nails, — these are the principal requisites. 
The guide will initiate the unpractised traveller into the mysterious art of 
" packing " a mule or horse, an accomplishment which can only be acquired 
by actual practice, but one on the skilful performance of which much of the 
traveller's comfort depends. Those who are familiar with woods-life in Cali- 
fornia, or elsewhere, can easily find their way about with the help of the 
maps contained in this volume. 

It will be the principal object of this chapter to describe the region of the 
High Sierra adjacent to the Yosemite, and this will first be done; after 
which, we will add a brief description of some other less known portions 
of the Sierra, in the hope that travellers may be induced to visit them, and, 
perhaps, to give to the world some of their experience, for the benefit of 
future tourists. And, for convenience, we will first describe the trip which 
is most likely to be made by those visiting the Yosemite ; namely, an excursion 
around the Valley, on the outside, one which will reveal much that is of 
great interest, occupying but few days, and which can be made mostly on 
beaten trails, without the slightest difficulty or danger. We cannot but 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 91 

believe that the time will soon come when hundreds, if not thousands, will 
every year visit this region, and that it will become as well known as the 
valleys and peaks of the Bernese Oberland. 

In making the circuit of the Yosemite, as here proposed, the traveller 
is supposed to start from the Valley itself, leaving it on the north side, and 
following the Mono trail to Soda Springs, camping there and ascending 
Mount Dana, then returning by the trail from Mono to Mariposa, passing 
behind Cloud's Rest and the Half Dome, through the Little Yosemite, across 
the Illilouette, by the Sentinel Dome, then to Westfall's and back into the 
Valley, or to Clark's Ranch, as may be desired, the whole trip occupying 
about a week. 

Leaving the Valley, the traveller ascends to the plateau by the Coulterville 
trail ; but, instead of keeping on the trail back to that place, turns sharp to 
the right just after passing the Boundary corner, taking the trail formerly 
considerably used by mule-trains between Big Oak Flat and Aurora. This 
trail was of some importance at the time that the Esmeralda District was in 
favor with mining speculators ; for, although it rises to the elevation of over 
10,700 feet above the sea-level, yet, there being an abundance of feed at the 
various flats and meadows on the route, — which, as they were not claimed or 
fenced in, were free to all, — it offered a more eligible route for large trains of 
mules than the passes farther north, where all the grass was taken possession 
of by settlers, and where, consequently, feed must be purchased. In 1863 
all the meadows on 'the Silver Mountain road (the one next north of the 
Sonora Pass road) were claimed ; there were several public houses on the 
route, and a public conveyance over it ; but, at that time, there was not 
a house or a settler on the Mono trail anywhere between Deer Flat, twenty- 
two miles below the Yosemite, and the eastern base of the Sierra, near Mono 
Lake ; nor is there now, so far as we are informed. The traveller, therefore, 
will not be able to telegraph, in advance of his arrival, for rooms at the 
sumptuous hotel at the next station; but he will find grassy meadows in 
which to pasture his animals, scattered along the route at convenient inter- 
vals, will have an abundance of ice-cold water, and, drawing on his saddle-bags 
for his own rations, with unlimited command of free fuel, he will find both 
novelty and delight in his entire independence of hotel bills, and in knowing 
that he is not in danger of being crowded out of his " accommodations." 



92 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The first good camping-ground, after leaving the Valley on the Mono trail, 
is in the neighborhood of the Virgin's Tears Creek, and from here the highest 
of the Three Brothers may be easily reached, in an hour or two. There 
is no trail blazed as yet ; but the shortest and best way can easily be found, 
in the absence of a guide, by the aid of the map. From this commanding 
point, almost 4,000 feet above the Valley, the view is extremely fine, the 
Merced River and green meadows which border it seeming to be directly 
under the observer's feet. Probably there is no better place from which 
to get a bird's-eye view of the Yosemite Valley itself; and, in respect to the 
distant view of the Sierra to be had from the summit of the Three Brothers, 
it can only be said, that, like all the others which can be obtained from 
commanding positions around the Valley, it seems, while one is enjoying it, 
to be the finest possible. At the time of our visit to this region in 1866, 
we climbed a commanding ridge just north of our camp on the Virgin's Tears 
Creek, from which a noble panoramic view of the Sierra was had. It was 
just at sunset, and the effect of color which was produced by some peculiar 
condition of the atmosphere, and which continued for at least a quarter 
of an hour, was something entirely unique and indescribably beautifid. The 
whole landscape, even the foreground and middle ground, as well as the 
distant ranges, became of a bright Venetian-red color, producing an effect 
which a painter would vainly attempt to imitate by any color or combination 
of colors. It was unlike the " Alpine glow," so often seen in high mountains ; 
for, instead of being confined to the distant and lofty ranges, it tinged even 
the nearest objects, and not with shades of rose-color and purple, but with 
a uniform tint of brilliant, clear red. 

After crossing the Virgin's Tears, the next creek is that which forms the 
Yosemite Falls, and which is about, two miles farther on. The trail crosses 
this creek a little above a small meadow, where one can camp, and from 
which the brink of the fall and the summit of the cliff overhanging it on 
the east may be visited. A couple of miles farther on is a high meadow 
called Deer Park, on which there was some snow even in the latter part 
of June, 1863 ; for we are here nearly 8,500 feet above the sea-level. 
Descending a little, we soon reach Porcupine Flat, a small meadow of carices, 
8,173 feet above tide-water, and a good camping-ground for those who wish 
to visit Mount Hoffmann. 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 93 

Mount Hoffmann is the culminating point of a group of elevations, very 
conspicuous from various points about the Yosemite, and especially from the 
Mariposa trail and from Sentinel Dome, looking directly across the Valley 
and to the north of it. It is about four miles northwest of Porcupine Flat, 
and can be reached and ascended without the slightest difficulty. The ridge 
to which it belongs forms the divide between the head-waters of Tenaya and 
Yosemite Creeks, the latter heading in several small lakes which lie imme- 
diately under the bold mural face of the range, which is turned to the 
northwest. The summit is 10,872 feet above the sea-level, and is a bare 
granitic mass, with a gently curving slope on the south side, but falling off 
in a grand precipice to the north. 

The view from the summit of Mount Hoffmann is remarkably fine, and 
those who have not time, or inclination, to visit the higher peaks of the 
main ridge of the Sierra are strongly advised to ascend this, as the trip from 
the Yosemite and back need only occupy two or three days ; and no one 
who has not climbed some high point above the Valley can consider himself 
as having made more than a distant acquaintance with the High Sierra. 
This is a particularly good point for getting an idea of the almost inaccessible 
region of volcanic masses lying between the Tuolumne River and the Sonora 
Pass road, of which a characteristic instance is given in Fig. 9, which 
represents some of the great tables resting on the granite and 3,000 feet above 
the adjacent valley, the dark mass of lava in the centre of the picture 
being fully 700 feet thick. The number of distinct peaks, ridges, and tables, 
visible in that direction, crowded together, is too great to be counted. The 
grand mass of Castle Peak is a prominent and most remarkably picturesque 
object. This mountain was thus named by Mr. G. H. Goddard, about ten 
years ago, at which time he ascended, by estimate, to within 1,000 feet of the 
summit, and calculated it to be 13,000 feet in elevation above the sea-level* 
Messrs. King and Gardner made several attempts to climb it, but did not 
succeed in getting to the top, although Mr. Goddard thinks it can easily 
be reached from the north. By some unaccountable mistake, the name 
of Castle Peak was afterwards transferred to a rounded and not at all 

* Mr. Goddard's measurement was made with an aneroid barometer, and subsequent examinations 
along his route, by the Geological Survey, indicate that his figures are about 500 feet too great. 
Castle Peak is probably between 12,000 and 12,500 feet high. 



94 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



Fig. 9. 




VOLCANIC TABLES ON GRANITE. 



castellated mass about seven miles north of Mount Dana ; but we have 
returned the name to the peak to which it belongs, and given that of General 
Warren, the well-known topographer and engineer, to the one on which the 
entirely unsuitable name of Castle Peak had become fixed. 

From Porcupine Flat and Mount Hoffmann, we look directly south on to 
the fine group of mountains lying southeast of the Yosemite and called by 
us the Obelisk Group, which will be fully described further on in this chap- 
ter. (See Plate IV.) It is a conspicuous feature in the scenery of the 
region about the Yosemite. 

Lake Tenaya, the head of the branch of the Merced of the same name, is 
the next point of interest on the trail, and is about six miles east-northeast 
of Porcupine Flat. It is a beautiful sheet of water, a mile long and half 
a mile wide. The trail passes around its east side, and good camping-ground 
can be found at the upper end in a fine grove of firs and pines. The rocks 
in the vicinity all exhibit in the most remarkable degree the concentric 
structure peculiar to the granite of this region. At the head of the 
Lake is a very conspicuous conical knob of smooth granite, about 800 feet 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 



95 



high, entirely bare of vegetation, and beautifully scored and polished by 
former glaciers. The traces of the existence of an immense flow of ice down 
the valley now occupied by Lake Tenaya begin here to be very conspicuous. 
The ridges on each side of the trail are worn and polished by glacial action 
nearly to their summits, so that travelling really becomes difficult for the 
animals on the pass from the valley of the Tenaya into that of the Tuo- 



Fi?. 10. 




CATHEDRAL PEAK, FROM NEAR LAKE TENAYA. 



lumne, so highly polished and slippery are the broad areas of granite over 
which they have to pick their way. A branch of the great Tuolumne glacier 
flowed over into the Tenaya Valley through this pass, showing that the 
thickness of the mass of ice was nmch more than 500 feet, which is the 
difference of level between the summit of the pass and the Tuolumne River. 
As the glacial markings are seen on the rocks around Lake Tenaya at an 
elevation of fully 500 feet above its level, it is certain that the whole 
thickness of the ice in the Tuolumne Valley must have been at least 1,000 
feet. The siimmit of the pass is 9,070 feet above the sea-level. 

The trail descends into the valley of the Tuolumne, winding down under 
the brow of the Cathedral Peak group, a superb mass of rock, which first 
becomes conspicuously visible to the traveller just before reaching Lake 



96 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



Tenaya. See Fig. 10. This is one of the grandest land-marks in the whole 
region, and has been most appropriately named. As seen from the west and 
south— est, it presents the appearance of a lofty mass of roek, cut squarelr 
down on all sides for more than a thousand feet, and having at its southern 
end a beautiful cluster of slender pinnacles, which rise several hundred feet 
above the main body. It requires no effort of the imagination to see the 

I .-. 11. 




CATHEDRAL PEAK. FBOM TTOLUMXE VALLEY. 



resemblance of the whole to a Gothic cathedral : but the majesty of its form 
and its vast dimensions are such, that any work of human hands would sink 
into insignificance beside it. Its summit is at least 2.500 feet above the 
surrounding plateau, and about 11.000 feet above the sea-level. From the 
Tuolumne Kiver Yalley, on the east, the Cathedral Peak presents a most 
attractive appearance : but has quite lost the peculiar resemblance which was 
so conspicuous on the other side. (See FL r . 11 and Plate 




... , 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 97 

The valley of the Tuolumne, into which the Mono trail now descends (see 
map), is one of the most picturesque and delightful in the High Sierra. 
Situated at an elevation of between 8,000 and 9,000 feet above the sea-level, 
surrounded by noble ranges and fantastically shaped peaks which rise from 
3,000 to 4,000 feet higher, and from which the snow never entirely dis- 
appears, traversed by a clear rapid river, along which meadows of carices and 
clumps of pines and firs alternate, the effect of the whole is indeed most 
superb. The main portion of the valley is about four miles long, and from 
half to a third of a mile wide. At its upper end it forks, the Mono trail 
taking the left-hand branch, or that which comes down from Mount Dana, 
while the right-hand fork, or that which enters from the southeast, is the 
one heading on the north side of Mount Lyell (see map), about eight miles 
above the junction of the two branches. Soda Springs, on the north side of 
the Tuolumne, near the place where the Mono trail descends into the valley, 
offers an agreeable camping-ground, and many other pleasant spots can be found 
between this and the head of the pass. The springs furnish a mild chalyb- 
eate water, slightly impregnated with carbonic acid gas, and rather pleasant 
to the taste. They are elevated thirty or forty feet above the river, and are 
8,680 feet above the sea. From this point the view in all directions is a 
magnificent one. The Cathedral Peak Group is one of the most conspicuous 
features in the landscape, the graceful, slender form of the dominating peak 
being always attractive, from whichever side it is seen. What resembled 
the spires of a cathedral, in the distant view from the west, near Lake 
Tenaya, is now seen to be two bare pyramidal peaks, rising precipitously from 
the forest-clothed sides of the ridge to the height of about 2,300 feet above 
the valley. (See Plate V.) Farther east the range is continued in a line of 
jagged peaks and pinnacles, too steep for the snow to remain upon them, 
and rising above great slopes of bare granite, over which, through the whole 
summer, large patches of snow are distributed, in sheltered places and on 
the north side. One of these peaks has a very peculiar horn-shaped outline, 
and hence was called Unicorn Peak. This range trends off to the southeast 
and unites with the grand mass of the Mount Lyell Group, which forms the 
dominating portion of the Sierra in this region. 

The vicinity of Soda Springs, and, indeed, the whole region about the 
head of the upper Tuolumne, is one of the finest in the State for studying 
13 



98 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



the traces of the ancient glacier system of the Sierra Nevada. The valleys 
of both the Mount Lyell and the Mount Dana forks exhibit abundant 
evidence of having been filled, at no very remote period, with an immense 
body of moving ice, which has everywhere rounded and polished the surface 
of the rocks, up to at least a thousand feet above the level of the river. 
This polish extends over a vast area, and is so perfect that the surface 



Fig. 12. 




GLACIER-POLISHED ROCKS, UPPER TUOLUMNE VALLEY. 



is often seen from a distance to glitter with the light reflected from it, as 
from a mirror. Xot only have we these evidences of the former existence 
of glaciers, but all the phenomena of the moraines — lateral, medial, and 
terminal — are here displayed on the grandest scale. 

To the northeast of Soda Springs, a plateau stretches along the south- 
western side of the crest of the Sierra, with a gentle inclination towards the 
river, rising gradually up to a rugged mass of peaks, of which Mount Conness 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 99 

is the highest. The plateau lies at an elevation of between 9,000 and 
10,000 feet ; it has clumps of Pinus contorta scattered over it, and is 
furrowed by water-courses, which are not very large. The whole surface 
of this is most beautifully polished and grooved, except where covered with 
the piles of debris, which stretch across it in long parallel lines, and which 
are the medial moraines of the several side glaciers, which formerly united 
with the main one, coming down from the gorges and canons of the great 
mass of the Sierra above. About a mile below the springs are the remains 
of a terminal moraine, stretching across the valley ; it is not very con- 
spicuous, except from the fact that it bears a scattered growth of pines, 
contrasting beautifully with the grassy and level area above and below. A 
mile and a half lower down, a belt of granite, a mile or more wide, extends 
across the valley ; over this the river falls in a series of cascades, having 
a perpendicular descent of above a hundred feet in all. This granite belt is 
worn into many knobs, some of which are a hundred feet high and over ; 
between these are great grooves and channels worn by ice, and their whole 
surface, to the very summit, is scratched and polished, the markings being 
parallel with the present course of the river. 

Below this is another grassy field, and then the river enters a canon, 
which is about twenty miles long, and probably inaccessible through its 
entire length ; at least we have never heard of its being explored, and it 
certainly cannot be entered from its head. Mr. King followed this canon 
down as far as he could, to where the river precipitated itself down in a 
grand fall, over a mass of rock so rounded on the edge, that it was impos- 
sible to approach near enough to look over into the chasm below, the walls 
on each side being too steep to be climbed. Where the canon opens out 
again, twenty miles below, so as to be accessible, a remarkable counterpai-t 
of the Yosemite Valley is found, called the Hetch-Hetchy Valley, which will 
be described farther on. Between this and Soda Springs there is a descent 
in the river of 4,500 feet, and what grand waterfalls and stupendous scenery 
there may be here it is not easy to say. Although we have not succeeded 
in getting into this canon, it does not follow that it cannot be done. Adven- 
turous climbers, desirous of signalizing themselves by new discoveries, should 
try to penetrate into this unknown gorge, which may perhaps admit of being 
entered through some of the side canons coming in from the north, and 



100 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

which must exhibit stupendous scenery. The region north of this canon, as 
far as the Sonora road across the Sierra, is wonderfully wild and difficult 
of access. Our parties made some attempt to penetrate it, and to reach 
Castle Peak, but without success, partly owing to the great difficulty of 
finding feed for the animals. 

Just before reaching the head of the great canon, there is an isolated 
granite knob in the valley, rising to the height of about 800 feet above the 
river, and beautifully glacier-polished to its very summit. At this point 
the great glacier of the Tuolumne must have been at least a mile and 
a half wide and over 1,000 feet thick. From this knob the view of the 
valley and the surrounding mountains is one hardly surpassed in interest and 
grandeur. Plate VI. reproduces a sketch taken from this point looking 
towards the Cathedral Peak Group, and shows the fine mass of elevations to 
the southwest. In the lower part of the valley are the smooth and glittering 
surfaces of granite, indicating the former existence of the glacier ; above this, 
on either hand, the steep slopes of the mountains, clad with a sombre growth 
of pines (Pinus contorta), and beyond, still higher up, the great snow-fields, 
above which rises the Unicorn Peak, and many other nameless ones, in 
grand contrast with the dome-shaped masses seen, in the farthest distance, 
in the direction of Lake Tenaya. 

Of all the excursions which can be made from Soda Springs, the one most 
to be recommended is the ascent of Mount Dana, as being entirely without 
difficulty or danger, and as offering one of the grandest panoramic views 
which can be had in the Sierra Nevada; those who wish to try a more 
difficult feat can climb Mount Lyell or Mount Conness.* Since the visit 
of the Geological Survey to this region, in 1863, several parties have 
ascended Mount Dana, riding nearly to the summit on horseback, and there 
can be no doubt that the ascent will, in time, become well known, and 
popular among tourists. As it is rather too hard a day's work to go from 

* Mount Dana was named after Professor J. D. Dana, the eminent American geologist; Mount 
Lyell, from Sir Charles Lyell, whose admirable geological works have been well known to students 
of this branch of science, in this country, for the past thirty years. Mount Conness beai's the name 
of a distinguished citizen of California, now a United States Senator, who deserves, more than any 
other person, the credit of carrying the bill organizing the Geological Survey of California, through 
the Legislature, and who is chiefly to be credited for another great scientific work, the Survey 
of the 40th Parallel. 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 101 

Soda Springs to the summit of Mount Dana and back in a day, it will be 
convenient to move camp to the base of the mountain, near the head of the 
Mono Pass. The distance from the springs to the summit of the pass is 
about ten miles in a straight line, and perhaps twelve in following the trail. 
A convenient place for camping, and from which to ascend Mount Dana, 
is at a point about three miles from the summit of the pass, on the left 
bank of the stream and near the junction of a small branch, coming in from 
the slopes of Mount Dana to unite with the main river, which heads in the 
pass itself and along the ridges to the southeast of it. This camp is 9,805 
feet above the sea, and about a thousand feet below the summit of the pass, 
which is 10,765 feet in elevation. 

An examination of the map will give a better idea than any verbal 
explanation can do of the character and position of the subordinate members 
of the crest of the Sierra in this region. A jagged line of granite pinnacles 
runs from the head of the San Joaquin Eiver northwest, for about twenty 
miles, beginning at the Minarets and ending at Cathedral Peak. Mount 
Ritter, Mount Lyell, and Mount Maclure are the only points in this range 
that we have named;* they are all about 13,000 feet high. 

From Mount Lyell starts off a grand spur connecting with the Obelisk 
Group Kange, which runs parallel with the Mount Lyell Range and about 
ten miles from it. About the same distance from the latter, in the opposite 
direction from the Obelisk Group, is another serrated line of peaks, of which 
Mount Conness is the culminating point. Connecting the Mount Lyell and 
the Mount Conness ranges, and forming the main divide of the Sierra, in 
this part, is a series of elevations Avhich have rounded summits and rather 
gently sloping sides, contrasting in the most marked manner with the pin- 
nacles and obelisks of the other ranges. This portion of the Sierra runs 
north and south, and has as its dominating mass Mount Dana, which appears 
to be the highest point anywhere in this region, and which was, for a 
considerable time, supposed by us to be the highest of the whole Sierra, 
with the exception of Mount Shasta. Mount Dana and Mount Lyell are so 
nearly of the same height that the difference falls within the limits of possible 

* Ritter is the name of the great German geographer, the founder of the science of modern 
comparative geography. To the pioneer of American geology, William Maclure, one of the dom- 
inating peaks of the Sierra Nevada is very properly dedicated. 



102 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

instrumental error; but on levelling, with a pocket-level, from one to the 
other, the former seemed to be a little the higher of the two. 

Mount Dana is the second peak north of the pass ; the one between that 
mountain and the pass is called Mount Gibbs. Between the two is a gap 
somewhat lower than the Mono Pass, but descending too steeply on the 
eastern side to admit of use without considerable excavation. There is also 
another pass on the north side of Mount Dana, as represented on the map ; 
this is about 600 feet lower than the Mono Pass, and might probably be 
made available with a small expenditure. From the summit everywhere 
to the east, the descent is exceedingly rapid ; that through " Bloody Canon," 
as the east slope of the Mono Pass is called, lets the traveller down 4,000 
feet in three miles. The total descent front the summit of Mount Dana 
to Mono Lake is 6,773 feet, and the horizontal distance only six miles, or 
over 1,100 feet fall to the mile. 

We ascended Mount Dana twice from the south side without difficulty, 
sliding down on the snow for a considerable portion of the way, on the 
return, making a descent of about 1,200 feet in a couple of minutes. We 
have been told, however, that the approach to the summit from the opposite 
side is much easier, and that it is even possible to ride a horse nearly to 
the top from the northwest. The height was determined by us to be 13,227 
feet, and it need hardly be added that the view from the summit is sublime. 
Every tourist who wishes to make himself acquainted with the high mountain 
scenery of California should climb Mount Dana ; those who ascend no higher 
than the Yosemite, and never penetrate into the heart of the mountains, 
should never undertake to talk of having seen the Sierra Nevada ; — as well 
claim an intimate acquaintance with the Bernese Oberland after having spent 
a day or two in Berne, or with Mont Blanc after visiting Geneva. The 
Yosemite is something by itself; it is not the High Sierra, it belongs to an 
entirely different type of scenery. From Mount Dana, the innumerable peaks 
and ranges of the Sierra itself, stretching off to the north and south, form, 
of course, the great feature of the view. To the east, Mono Lake lies spread 
out, as on a map, at a depth of nearly 7,000 feet below, while beyond it 
rise, chain above chain, the lofty and, here and there, snow-clad ranges of 
the Great Basin, — a region which may well be called a wilderness of moun- 
tains, barren and desolate in the highest degree, but possessing many of the 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 103 

elements of the sublime, especially vast extent and wonderful variety and 
grouping of mountain forms. 

The upper part of Mount Dana is not granite, as are almost all the 
surrounding peaks. It is made up of slate, very metamorphic near the sum- 
mit, and showing, farther down, especially on the south side, alternating 
bands of bright green and deep reddish-brown, and producing a very pleasing 
effect, by the contrast of these brilliant colors, especially when the surface 
is wet. This belt of metamorphic rock is seen to extend for a great distance 
to the north, giving a rounded outline to the summits in that direction, 
of which Mount Warren, about six miles distant and 13,000 feet high, as 
near as we could estimate, is one of the most prominent. The contrast 
between the contours of the metamorphic summits of the Sierra and the 
granitic ones will be seen on comparing Plates VII. and VIII. 

Along the western and southern slopes of Mount Dana the traces of ancient 
glaciers are very distinct, up to a height of 12,000 feet. In the gap directly 
south of the summit a mass of ice must once have existed, having a thick- 
ness of at least 800 feet, at as high an elevation as 10,500 feet. From all 
the gaps and valleys of the west side of the range, tributary glaciers came 
down, and all united in one grand mass lower in the valley, where the 
medial moraines which accumulated between them are perfectly distinguish- 
able, and in places as regularly formed as any to be seen in the Alps at 
the present day. On the eastern side of the pass, also, the traces of former 
glacial action are very marked, from the summit down to the foot of the 
canon ; and there are several small lakes which are of the kind known 
as " moraine lakes," formed by the damming up of the gorge by the ter- 
minal moraines left by the glacier as it melted away and retreated up the 
canon. 

Of the high peaks adjacent to Mount Dana, Mount Warren was ascended 
by Mr. Wackenreuder, and Mount Conness by Messrs. King and Gardner. 
The latter was reached by following a moraine which forms, as Mr. King 
remarks, a good graded road all the way round from Soda Springs to the 
very foot of the mountain. The ascent was difficult and somewhat hazardous, 
the approach to the summit being over a knife-blade ridge, which might 
be trying to the nerves of the uninitiated in mountain climbing. The summit 
is 12,692 feet above the sea-level, and is of granite, forming great concentric 



104 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



plates dipping to the -west. Of course, the view, like all from the dominant 
peaks of this region, is extensive, and grand beyond all description. 

Our party also ascended the Mount Lyell fork, following up the valley 
of that stream. From near the head of it, the sketch was taken which is 
reproduced in Plate VIII. and which gives a good idea of the Alpine 
character of this portion of the Sierra. The highest point of the group was 

Fig. 13. 




SUMMIT OF MOUNT LYELL. 



ascended by Messrs. Brewer and Hoffmann; but they were unable to reach 
the very summit, which was found to be a sharp and inaccessible pinnacle 
of granite rising above a field of snow. (See Fig. 13.) By observations 
taken at a station estimated to be 150 feet below the top of this pinnacle, 
Mount Lyell was found to be 13,217 feet high. The ascent was difficult, on 
account of the body of snow which had to be traversed, and which was 
softened by the sun, so that climbing in it was very laborious. This trouble 
might have been obviated, however, by camping nearer the summit and 
ascending before the sun had been up long enough to soften the snow. The 
cidminating peaks of Mount Lyell have a gradual slope to the northeast ; 
but to the south and southwest they break off in precipices a thousand feet 
or more in height. Between these cliffs, on that side, a vast amphitheatre is 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 105 

included, once the birthplace of a grand glacier, which flowed down into the 
canon of the Merced. From this point, the views of the continuation of 
the chain to the southeast are magnificent. Hundreds of points, in that 
direction, rise to an elevation of over 12,000 feet, mostly in jagged pinnacles 
of granite, towering above extensive snow-fields, with small plateaus between 
them. This continuation of the range to the southeast of Mount Lyell was 
afterwards visited by another party, and the peak called on the map Mount 
Ritter was ascended, as will be noticed farther on, after completing the tour 
around the Yosemite. 

If the traveller has ascended Mount Dana, he will probably desire to 
return down the Tuolumne Valley and continue his journey on the trail 
leading south of Cloud's Rest, to the Little Yosemite and Sentinel Dome, 
and so back to Clark's Ranch. This 'trail strikes directly south from the 
crossing of the Tuolumne, a little below Soda Springs, and passes close under 
Cathedral Peak, on the west side, then along the back, or east side of 
Cloud's Rest, and down into the Little Yosemite Valley, as it is called. 

This is a flat valley or mountain meadow, about four miles long and from 
half a mile to a mile wide. It is enclosed between walls from 2,000 to 
3,000 feet high, with numerous projecting buttresses and angles, topped with 
dome-shaped masses. At the upper end of the valley it contracts to a 
V-shaped gorge, through which the Merced rushes with rapid descent, over 
huge masses of debris. The Little Yosemite Valley is a little over 6,000 feet 
above the sea-level, or 2,000 above the Yosemite, of which it is a kind of 
continuation, being on the same stream, — namely, the main Merced, — and 
only a short distance above the Nevada Fall, from the summit of which easy 
access may be had to it, whenever the bridge across the river between the 
Vernal and Nevada Falls has been rebuilt. This bridge, which was carried 
away in the winter of 1867-68, obviated the necessity of a very circuitous 
and difficult climb, to get from the base of the Nevada Fall to its summit, 
the ascent being quite easy on the north side of the river. On the south 
side, about midway up the Valley, a cascade comes sliding down in a clear 
sheet over a rounded mass of granite; it was estimated at 1,200 feet in 
height. The concentric structure of the granite is beautifully marked in the 
Little Yosemite ; the curious rounded mass, called the Sugar Loaf, is a good 
instance of this. 

14 



106 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The trail, leaving the Little Yosemite, crosses the divide between the 
Merced and the Illilouette, then the last-named stream, passing to the west 
of Mount Starr King, another of those remarkable conical knobs of granite, 
of which there is quite a group in this vicinity. From various points in the 
tipper part of the Yosemite Valley, from which one can look up the Illilouette 
Cafion, the summit of Mount Starr King is just visible in the distance, 
nearly concealed behind another of these domes or cones, the two being with 
difficulty to be distinguished from each other, except when the sunlight 
happens to fall on one and not on the other, which is necessarily something 
of rather rare occurrence. Starr King is the steepest cone in the region, 
with the exception of the Half Dome, and is exceedingly smooth, having 
hardly a break in it; the summit is quite inaccessible, and we have not 
been able to measure its height. 

There is nothing more of particular interest in this vicinity, nor before 
reaching Westfall's meadows, except the Sentinel Dome. This may be visited 
from Ostrander's, from which a trail has been blazed, or from the Illilouette 
Valley direct, on the return route. Horses may be ridden nearly to its 
summit, which is a great rounded mass of granite, with a few straggling 
pines on it. The view it commands is indeed sublime. Looking directly 
across the Yosemite, we have on the left the snow-covered mass of Mount 
Hoffmann, and, nearly under it, the rounded summit of the North Dome, 
and another similar mass of granite near it. In the centre of the field, the 
view extends directly up the Tenaya Canon, past the stupendous vertical 
face of the Half Dome, on to the bare regular slope of Cloud's Rest, while 
on the opposite side of the cafion we see Mount Watkins, and, in the 
distance, the serrated crest of the Sierra. The points next to the left of 
Cloud's Rest, and directly over the Tenaya Canon, belong to the Cathedral 
Peak and Unicorn Peak ranges, which are such prominent features in the 
view from Soda Springs. The tip of Cathedral Peak is just seen rising above 
the intervening ranges. Beyond, in the farthest distance, we have the higher 
range of Mount Conness and the adjacent peaks. The Half Dome is the 
great feature in this view, and no one can form any conception of its grandeur 
who has only seen it from the Valley below. On the Sentinel Dome we are 
4,150 feet above the Valley; but still lack 587 feet of being as high as the 
summit of the Half Dome. 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 107 

Facing the east, we have directly in front the Nevada Fall, with the Cap 
of Liberty on the left of it. Just above the latter we look into the Little 
Yosemite, and see a spot of its level floor, surrounded by bare, shelving 
granite masses. On the extreme left is a small portion of the bare side 
of the Half Dome, and the farthest point to the right is the Obelisk, or 
Mount Clark, the most western and dominating point of the Merced Group, 
its sides streaked with snow. In the extreme distance is the mass of moun- 
tains which we have called the Mount Lyell Group.* 

Looking towards the southeast, we have a grand view of the whole of the 
Merced Group, in the distance, the Obelisk on the left, and the three other 
principal peaks to the right. Just midway between the Sentinel Dome and 
the Obelisk is the curious elevation called Mount Starr King, mentioned 
before as being an extremely steep, bare, inaccessible cone of granite, sur- 
rounded by several others of the same pattern, but of smaller dimensions. 

The Sentinel Dome may easily be reached by the traveller to the Yosemite, 
by stopping over a day, on the way to or from the Valley, at Westfall's 
meadow. It makes just a pleasant day's excursion to ride to the Dome and 
back, with a few hours to remain on the summit. But if one is in a hurry, 
it is possible to make the trip and return in time to reach either Clark's 
or the Yosemite before night. To visit this region and not ascend Sentinel 
Dome, is a mistake ; only those who have had the pleasure of making this 
excursion can appreciate how much is lost by not going there. 

There is one point overhanging the Valley, about half a mile northeast 
of the Sentinel Dome, and directly in a line with the edge of the Half Dome. , 
This is called Glacier Point, and the view from it combines perhaps more 
elements of beauty and grandeur than any other single one about the Valley. 
The Nevada and Vernal Falls are both plainly in sight, and directly over 
them is the Obelisk, with a portion of the range extending off to the right, 
until concealed behind the conical mass of Mount Starr King. To the left 
of the Cap of Liberty is the depression in which lies the Little Yosemite, 
and beyond this, in the farthest distance, the lofty summits of the Mount 
Lyell Group. The pines fringing the edge of Glacier Point are the Pinus 
Jeffreyi. The view of the Half Dome from this point is stupendous, as the 

* Mount Lyell and Mount Maclure are two dark points visible to the right and the left of a 
snow-covered peak, rising in the farthest distance between the Nevada Fall and the Cap of Liberty. 



108 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

spectator is very near to that object, and in a position to see it almost 
exactly edgewise. We regret that we are not able to give a figure of it from 
this point of view. Language is powerless to express the effect which this 
gigantic mass of rock, so utterly unlike anything else in the world, produces 
on the mind. 

We have thus conducted the traveller around the Valley, and given him 
as many hints as our space will admit as to the character and locality 
of the objects to be seen on the route. A week is surely very little to 
devote to this excursion ; and, when we consider how much can be seen and 
enjoyed during this time, it seems as if every one would be desirous of 
taking the opportunity of being at the Yossmite to make this addition to his 
travelling experience. The time will certainly come when this will be fully 
recognized, and when the rather indistinct trail around the Valley will be as 
well beaten as is now the one which leads into it. 

For those who desire to extend their knowledge of the High Sierra still 
farther, there are numerous mountains, peaks, passes, and valleys to be 
visited, each one of which has its own peculiar beauties and attractions. 

The Merced Group, which is so conspicuous an object in the view from 
Sentinel Dome and many other points about the Yosemite, offers a fine field 
for exploration. This group is a side-range, parallel with the main one, and 
about twelve miles from it. It runs from a point near the Little Yosemite, 
for about twelve miles, and then meets the transverse range coming from 
Mount Lyell and forming the divide between the San Joaquin and the 
Merced. Intersecting this, the Merced Group is continued to the southeast, 
and runs into a high peak, called Black Mountain ; it then falls off, and 
becomes lost in the plateau which borders the San Joaquin. 

At the northeast extremity of the group is the grand peak to which we 
first gave the name of the " Obelisk," from its peculiar shape, as seen from 
the region to the north of the Yosemite. It has, since that, been named 
Mount Clark, while the range to which it belongs is sometimes called the 
Obelisk Group, but, oftener, the Merced Group, because the branches of that 
river head around it. This is a noble range of mountains, with four con- 
spicuous summits and many others of less prominence. The dominating 
peaks all lie at the intersection of spurs with the main range, as will be 
seen on the maj). Mount Clark, or the Obelisk, is the one nearest the 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 109 

Yosemite. All these peaks are nearly of the same height. The one next 
south of the Obelisk was called the Gray Peak, the next the Red Mountain, 
and the next Black Mountain, from the various colors which predominate on 
their upper portions. The last name had, however, been previously given 
to the highest point of the mass of ridges and peaks at the southern 
extremity of the range, south of the divide between the San Joaquin and the 
Merced. All these points, except Gray Peak, have been climbed by the 
Geological Survey, and they are all between 11,500 and 11,700 feet in 
elevation. Mount Clark was found to be an extremely sharp crest of granite, 
and was not climbed without considerable risk. Mr. King, who, with Mr. 
Gardner, made the ascent of the peak, says that its summit is so slender, 
that when on top of it they seemed to be suspended in the air. 

An examination of the map will show how the spurs of the Merced Group 
break off in bold precipices to the north, with a more gradual descent to the 
south, — a peculiarity already mentioned as existing at the summit of Mount 
Hoffmann. The same is the case with the long crested ridge which forms 
the divide between the waters of the Merced and the San Joaquin. All 
these spurs and ridges open to the north with grand amphitheatres, where 
great glaciers once headed. The space enclosed between the Merced Group, 
the Mount Lyell Group, and the divide of the San Joaquin and Merced, 
forms a grand plateau about ten miles square, into which project the various 
spurs, coming down in parallel order, while in the centre there is a deep 
trough, sunk 2,000 feet below the general level, in which runs the Merced. 
The views from all the dominating points on the ridges surrounding this 
plateau are sublime, the region being one of the wildest and most inaccessible 
in the Sierra. 

Our party, in charge of Mr. King, made an attempt to climb Mount 
Patter, but, on account of the unfavorable weather, did not succeed in quite 
reaching the summit. They approached it from the southwest, passing to 
the south of Buena Vista Peak and Black Mountain. The Merced divide was 
found to be everywhere impassable for animals. Mr. King evidently considers 
Mount Ritter the cidminating point of this portion of the Sierra, as he says 
that he climbed to a point about as high as Mount Dana, and had still 
above him an inaccessible peak some 400 or 500 feet high. To the south 
of this are some grand pinnacles of granite, very lofty and apparently inac- 



1 1 IB V - B mi GTTDE-BOOK. 

f fjwih l e , to which we gnc the name of "the Minarets.' Oar space is not 

- — ,.t_- ' .- .r - - _-: ir.: :t>:r::: - ::' t7i= rrj: - n± T it -,; 
say that there are here numerous peaks, jet mwraled and unnamed, to which 
the attention of moontam climbers is incited. Any one of them will furnish 
a panoramic view which will sorely repay the lover of Alpine sce ne r y for the 
-:r--.-__- ::; :: : — % i: i_ ->__•.- :r _r7 : r :t = ^ -:i.: 

There is a rat interesting locality on the Toolnmne Brrer. about sixteen 
'- — -• - — '-- - >-— '- — -~~ -__- _-L. -.:. ". _- : 7rr_-.:-_ : little — e?t 
of north. It is called the He fc rh-He t Hty Valley, an tryfian nam^ the mean- 

~~ ~ - --~ " -i. I: :r -r 

- -'-"" — ~ : ~- T '~ -~~ •- - .""M-ri : .'- s ;--~ iz '.t ._-■: ••:_-. 'ir-i it Y. 

— — --7 ~~Y'-~- ~ •' ■- ■■- ' - ■ -L--:-- :- : t7; Y'-Ti_:tr It i- -:t :i. 
.Y-t ; ~ '-'- ' ~"-'-' ; -■■ "- " ~ ~-~-7 ' '"■ - -~-ir- -in z.: Y -ri_itr. t7i 

Heteh-Hetchy would be fairly «tirim| to a world-wide fame: and, in spite 
of the superior nUnMiiu t u of the Yosemite, a That to its counterpart mar be 
recommended, if it be only to aee how rmiiwadj Xature has repeated herself 
The Heteh-Hetchy may be reached easily from Big Oak Fkr ring 

the regular Yosemite Trail by Sprague's ranch and Big Flame, as far as Mr. 
Htii- i-.z.:-. '--r:L ti.- - :7 liY i_YYe : r>- ::' ~7t 7:7i:_^-r Y.~rr. 
Bare, at a distance of about ^ h fcr- ji miles from Big Oak Flat, the trail 
tons off to the left, going to Wade's meadows, or Big Meadows as they are 
also called, the distance being about seven miles. From Wades ranch the 
trY .:.,-- 'Lz i.:ii: z re : -7. 7 '. z_z.i :Y _• .-• - Y.t Y _■ r z/..." 
a dirtaora of five miles, then op the divide b e twe e n the middle fork and the 
main river, to mm l hiT little ranch called "the Canon." From here, it winds 
I — z. zzz. -. -7: r:>.>- : : - .z i_7-r- * ti- E^t YYYt;7_-. :: -7-; 7_7^_iv 
'Y.Y:_ 77 -. —7 - \- i_ i- '-- IY Y---7 Ytt-kY :.i"i ;- -"-7 Y.:-7 :.:Y 
has been oaed for driving sheep nod cattle into the Valley. The whole 
Y-- :.-_:-. zr\zz. Y_- 7 £ F..- - Yri -;._— 7 -.__■'■.- -7r- 1Y. >:r~Y Y--t 
-risrted this place ^hieh tone the TmjJMM had possession. The 

Fab Utes still -visit it every year for the purpose of getting ibe acorns, 
7 --!_■ Yi~l : _t "It -r---:i -!:-•- Y7:i-. ;_-- :- tie 7 Yi Y::_ :7- 



The Heteh-Hetchy is between 3,600 and 3.900 feet above the se*4evel. 
or nearly the same as the Yosemite: it is three miles long east and west, 



THE HIGH SIERRA. Ill 

bat is divided into two parts by a spur of granite, which nearly closes it up 
in the centre. The portion of the Valley below this spur is a large open 
meadow, a mile in length, and from an eighth to half a mile in width, with 
excellent grass, timbered only along the edge. The meadow terminates below 
in an exti-emely narrow canon, through which the river has not sufficient room 
to flow at the time of the spring freshets, so that the Valley is then 
inundated, giving rise to a fine lake. The upper part of the Valley, east 
of the spur, is a mile and three quarters long, and from an eighth to a third 
of a mile wide, well timbered and grassed. The walls of this Valley are not 
quite so high as those of the Yosemite ; but still, anywhere else than in 
California, they would be considered as wonderfully grand. On the north , 
side of the Hetch-Hetchy is a perpendicular bluff, the edge of which is 1,800 I 
feet above the Valley, and having a remarkable resemblance to El Capitan. | 
In the spring, when the snows are melting, a large stream is precipitated 
over this cliff, falling at least 1,000 feet perpendicular. The volume of water 
is very large, and the whole of the lower pai-t of the Valley is said to be 
filled with its spray. 

A little farther east is the Hetch-Hetchy Fall, the counterpart of the 
Yosemite. The height is 1,700 feet. It is not quite perpendicular; but 
it comes down in a series of beautiful cascades, over a steeply-inclined face 
of rock. The volume of water is much larger than that of the Yosemite 
Fall, and, in the spring, its noise can be heard for miles. The position 
of this fall in relation to the Valley is exactly like that of the Yosemite Fall 
in its Valley, and opposite to it is a rock much resembling the Cathedral 
Rock, and 2,270 feet high. 

At the upper end of the Valley the river forks, one branch, nearly as large 
as the main river, coming in from near Castle Peak. Above this, the canon, 
so far as we know, is unexplored ; but, in all probability, has concealed in it 
some grand falls. There is no doubt that the great glacier, which, as already 
mentioned, originated near Mount Dana and Mount Lyell, found its way 
down the Tuolumne Canon, and passed through the Hetch-Hetchy Valley. 
How far beyond this it reached we are unable to say, for we have made no 
explorations in the canon below. Within the Valley, the rocks are beautifully 
polished, up to at least 800 feet above the river. Indeed, it is probable that 
the glacier was much thicker than this ; for, along, the trail, near the south 



112 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

end of the Hetch-Hetchy, a moraine was observed at the elevation of fully 
1,200 feet above the bottom of the Valley. The great size and elevation 
of the amphitheatre in which the Tuolumne glacier headed caused such an 
immense mass of ice to be formed that it descended far below the line 
of perpetual snow before it melted away. The plateau, or amphitheatre, 
at the head of the Merced was not high enough to allow a glacier to be 
formed of sufficient thickness to descend down as far as into the Yosemite 
Valley; at least, we have obtained no positive evidence that such was the 
case. The statement to that effect in the " Geology of California," Vol. I., is 
an error, although it is certain that the masses of ice approached very near 
to the edge of the Valley, and were very thick in the canon to the southeast 
of Cloud's Rest, and on down into the Little Yosemite. 

This chapter may be closed by adding a few pages in regard to a portion 
of the High Sierra beyond the limits of the map accompanying this volume, 
but to which we desire to direct attention, as including the loftiest and the 
grandest mountains, and the most stupendous mountain scenery, yet discovered 
within our own territory. 

By referring to the Table on page 39, it will be observed that, between 
latitudes 36° and 37° there are peaks and passes higher than those described 
as existing near the Yosemite, there being a general rise of the mass of the 
Sierra as we go south. This high region, in which the passes exceed 12,000, 
and the peaks rise, in one instance at least, to 15,000 feet, lies at the head 
of King's and Kern Rivers and the San Joacmin. The most elevated peaks 
are between the parallels of 36° 30' and 37°, and are distant from the 
Yosemite, in a southeast direction, from 90 to 110 miles. This region was 
first explored by the Geological Survey in 1864, and a synopsis of the results 
of this reconnoissance will be found in the "Geology of California," Vol. I. (pp. 
365 — 402), from which some extracts will here be introduced, in the hope 
of attracting the attention of some travellers, who may thus be induced to 
push their explorations beyond the comparatively narrow limits of- a trip 
to and around the Yosemite. The region in question is not very difficult 
of access; indeed, a very good idea of its grandeur may be obtained by only 
a short trip from Visalia and back. 

Our party, consisting of Messrs. Brewer, Hoffmann, King, Gardner, and 
Cotter, took the field in May and proceeded from San Francisco across the 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 113 

plains of the San Joaquin to Visalia, from which point they entered the 
Sierra, ascending King's River to its source, and exploring the whole region 
about the head-waters of that and Kern River. Thence they made their way 
across the range by a pass over 12,000 feet high, passed up Owen's Valley, 
ascended the west branch of Owen's River, crossing the Sierra again at an 
altitude of 12,400 feet, and thence descending to the head of the San Joaquin 
River. The exploration was continued through the region of the head-waters 
of that stream and the Merced, connecting the reconnoissance with that of 
1863 around the sources of the Tuolumne. The whole expedition occupied 
about three months, during which time the geography and geology of a 
district including an area of over 10,000 square miles were for the first time 
explored, the whole region having previously been entirely unknown. The 
results proved to be of the greatest interest, disclosing the fact that this was 
the highest part of the Sierra Nevada, which was something quite unexpected 
to most persons, Mount Shasta having long been considered the most elevated 
point in California. 

Thomas's Saw-mill (Camp 164), at an elevation of 5,484 feet above the sea, 
and about forty miles northeast of Visalia, may be made the base of supplies 
for an expedition to this region. The mill stands on the edge of a beautiful 
meadow, the water from which runs into King's River. It is surrounded 
by a magnificent forest of the usual coniferous trees found in the Sierra 
at this altitude, and a little higher up the Big Trees {Sequoia gigantea) are 
abundant, as will be noticed in the next chaptei - . 

A rocky summit, called Bald Mountain, about six miles east of Thomas's 
Mill, was ascended by our party for the purpose of getting the first idea 
of the topography of the unknown region about to be visited. It is easy 
of access, although 7,936 feet high, and offers a fine view of the neighboring 
country and the extended crest of the Sierra. Its position is at once seen 
to be on the great elevated divide between the waters of King's River on 
the north, and the Kaweah on the south. This divide runs up to the snowy 
mountains at the sximmit of the chain, and appeared to terminate in the 
highest group of peaks, some twenty-five or thirty miles distant. The ridge 
of the divide rises at intervals into peaks, each one commanding the country 
on either side and behind it, as well as forward to the east as far as the 
next high point in that direction. About eight or nine miles to the north, 
15 



114 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK.. 

and several thousand feet below, is the canon of King's River, which seems 
precipitous and impassable. Some twenty miles to the northeast this river 
divides into two branches, and the course of the northern of these is such 
that the observer on the summit of Bald Mountain can look directly into it. 
The view is most impressive. Granite walls with buttresses, pinnacles, and 
domes rise perpendicularly from three to five thousand feet above the river, 
and above these the bare, rocky slopes tower up, high above all vegetation 
into regions of perpetual snow. Dark lines of trees wind up the ravines 
on the mountain-sides, becoming thinner and more scattered, until they 
disappear altogether, the summits of the mountains rising far above all 
vegetation, barren and desolate. 

Such is the character of the divide between the main forks of the Kino's 
River, although the southern side is not as steep as the northern. Its lofty 
summit, everywhere crested with precipices, presented an insurmountable 
barrier, over which our party never succeeded in taking their animals. Just 
at the junction of the forks, the end of the divide is crossed by a broad red 
stripe, bearing about northwest, and which could be seen appearing again on 
the north side of the canon. This, which seemed to be a great dyke of 
volcanic rock, but which was afterwards found to be a vein of granite, led 
to giving the divide the name of " Dyke Ridge." 

An attempt was first made to reach the summit of the Sieira by travelling 
up this divide, an old Indian trail being discovered which was followed for 
about fifteen miles. This trail led to a point where the ridge widened out 
into a plateau occupied by a large meadow ; a number of cattle had been 
driven here, and the place was known to hunters as the " Big Meadows." 
Camp 165 was intermediate between Thomas's and the Big Meadows, and 
was 7,480 feet above the sea. The rock along the whole route is granite, 
which has a tendency to weather into grand, rounded, boulder-like masses. 
Camp 166, about two miles below the Big Meadows, but nearly at the same 
altitude, was at an elevation of 7,827 feet. Here the massive granite is 
traversed by occasional dykes of a fine-grained variety of the same rock, and 
with veins of milky quartz. Large areas of nearly level or gently-sloping 
ground occur here, covered with meadows or forests of Pmus contorta, and 
there are also extensive patches of bare rock, or of granitic sand derived 
from its decomposition. As the granite decomposes very irregularly, the 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 115 

harder portions rise in rocky, rounded hills, and the softer are occupied 
by small valleys. A series of these grassy plats, five or six miles in length, 
makes up the Big Meadows, and they are drained in both directions, namely, 
into the King's and Kaweah Eivers. At this altitude the sugar and pitch 
pines, as well as the Big Trees, are left behind, and the forests are made up 
of the dark and sombre fir and Pinus contorta. Although it was the month 
of June, the thermometer sank as low as 16° at night, and a snow-storm, 
of three or four hours' duration occurred. 

Just east of the Big Meadows, and on the summit of the divide, are two 
elevations, to which the name of "Dome Mountains" was given, from the 
finely rounded, dome-like sweep of their outlines, which contrasts in a striking 
manner with the sharpness of the summit peaks behind them. On their 
southern sides the forests rise in an unbroken curve to their summits ; but 
on the north side there is a precipice for 200 to 300 feet below the crest, 
then a short, concave curve, and then the rounded and wooded slope descend- 
ing to the King's River Valley. In this part of the mountains, as at the 
Yosemite, the granite exhibits a tendency to form dome-shaped masses on 
a grand scale ; but on the very crest or summit-range it rises in pinnacles, 
giving a very different character to the scenery, as will be noticed further 
on. That one of these Dome Mountains which was ascended was found 
to be 9,825 feet high. Its summit was made up of concentric layers or beds 
of granite, from one to five feet thick, breaking into large rectangular masses 
sufficiently smooth and regular in form to be used for masonry without 
dressing. The north slope of the mountain is covered by immense masses 
of this angular debris. That this concentric structure is not the result 
of the original stratification of the rock, is evident from a study of the 
phenomena, which do not indicate anything like anticlinal or synclinal axes, 
or any irregular folding. The curves are arranged strictly with reference 
to the surface of the masses of rock, showing clearly that they must have 
been produced by the contraction of the material while cooling or solidifying, 
and also giving very strongly the impression that, in many places, we see 
something of the original shape of the surface, as it was when the granitic 
mass assumed its present position. In the canons between these domes, we 
sometimes have large surfaces exposed by denudation, and, as a result of the 
original concentric structure of the rocks on each side, we see the great 



116 



THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



plates of granite overlapping each other, and Avhere considerable weathering 
and denudation has taken place, we have picturesque and curious forms as 
the result ; pyramids and pinnacles are left standing on the prominent points, 
and their bedded structtrre adds to the peculiar impression which they give 
of their being works of ai-t rather than of nature. Fig. 14 will serve to 
illustrate the kind of scenery which is common in the region of this concen- 
trically bedded granite. 

Fi£r. 14. 




GRANITE ROCKS NEAR CAMP 169. 



The route followed by the party, in their attempt to reach the summit, 
led around the north side of the Domes, over the huge piles of angular 
fragments, and was on this account tedious and difficult. Camp 167 was 
made at a point two miles northeast of the Dome, and at an altitude of 
8,890 feet above the sea. Camp 168 was four or five miles southeast of the 
Dome, at a small meadow on the divide, and at an elevation of 9,569 feet. 
Progress was necessarily very slow, owing to the heavy load of provisions 
and instruments with which the small train of animals was packed, and the 
extreme roughness of the region travelled over. Beyond the Domes the 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 117 

divide contracts to a mere ridge ; the slope to the south, although steep, 
is comparatively smooth, and spreads out, towards its base, into rolling 
wooded spurs, between which small brooks run down into the Kawcah. 
Nearly all these streams head in little sedgy meadows, whose bright green 
contrasts beautifully with the deep shade of the surrounding forests. To the 
north, the aspect of things was different ; instead of a smooth slope, there 
was a fractured granite precipice, descending 200 feet, then a slope of debris, 
and at its foot two small lakes, forming the head-waters of a stream which 
unites with the south fork of King's River, a few miles above the dyke. 
This stream was called Glacier Brook, from the abundant traces of former 
glacial action in its vicinity. From Camp 168 to the Big Meadows is only 
sixteen miles ; but so difficult was the way, that it required two days for the 
party to accomplish that distance. From this camp, and the next (No. 1G9), 
two miles farther up the divide, an examination was made of an interesting 
and characteristic feature in the topography of this granitic region, and to 
which the name of "The Kettle" was given. 

This is a rocky amphitheatre at the head of a stream which flows back 
directly northeast from its source towards the axis of the chain, for a 
distance of twelve miles, and then curves and enters King's River, a peculiar 
and almost unique course for a stream in the Sierra Nevada. The kettle-like 
form of the head of this valley may be seen from the annexed section across 

Fig. 15. 




SECTION OF THE KETTLE. 



it transversely, at a distance of about a mile from its head (Fig. 15) ; it is 
plotted on an equal scale of horizontal and vertical distances. 

The northern rim (<t) is about 1,100 feet above the bottom (6) ; the 
southern one (c) rises in a sharp ridge 1,606 feet above b ; in some places c d 
is a vertical wall, in others a steep slope. The distance from a to c is a 






: 



















- 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 



119 




all occupied by masses of ice, as is evi- Fig. 17. 

dent from the polish of the interior 

walls and bottom of each of them ; but 

it hardly needs to be added that no 

glacial action coidd have originally formed 

one of these kettles ; the most that it 

could do would be to scorn- out and 

polish up the interior. This subject 

will be discussed in the second volume 

of the "Geology of California." 

Beyond the Kettle the divide becomes quite impassable for animals, and 
nearly so for men. Several unsuccessful trials were made to pass the barrier 
of nearly perpendicular rocks ; but, at last, a chink in the granite was found, 
through which the party crawled, and proceeded to ascend the next high 
peak on the divide, which is about six miles southeast of Camp 109, the 
elevation of which was found to be 11,623 feet above the sea. From its 
summit a magnificent view was obtained of the crest of the Sierra, as well 
as of the divide which had been traversed by the party. The region to the 
east presented a complicated system of very sharp ridges, rising here and 
there into pinnacles, apparently all of granite, with numerous immense circu- 
lar amphitheatre! cavities, formed by sharp ridges surrounding basins, of 
which one side is always broken away, and which have exactly the appear- 
ance of ancient craters both in form and outline. To the west the predomi- 
nance of rounded or dome-shaped mountain summits was most striking, the 
whole country appearing as if it had suddenly been cooled or congealed whde 
violently boiling. 

Camp 170 was about seven miles north-northeast of No. 169, in the valley 
of the stream which flows from the Kettle, and at an altitude of 7,408 feet, 
which was a lower point than was afterwards reached by the party for a long 
time. The way to this camp led around the west and north sides of the 
Kettle over a region exceedingly difficult to traverse, with alternating steep, 
naked slopes of granite, and thick, low forests. Some of the ancient moraines, 
piles of angular fragments of granite, were almost insurmountable obstacles to 
the passage of the animals. This camp was situated behind a sharp granite 
knob which rises from the valley like a sugar-loaf, as seen from below ; but 



120 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

which, in reality, is the end of a ridge a mile or two in length. This is 
several hundred feet high, and its summit is quite inaccessible. Its sides 
show undoubted evidence that it was once surrounded by a great glacier 
flowing down the valley. The slopes directed towards the moving ice are 
worn and polished, and huge boulders have been pushed up on them, and 
left all along, wherever the angle was not too steep for fragments of rock to 
lie. The meadow occupies a basin behind this knob, which appears to have 
been scooped out by a glacier. 

From the Sugar Loaf Eock there is a magnificent view up the valley 
to the group of mountains forming the western crest of the Sierra, the 
culminating point of which was named Mount Brewer. This was directly 
east, and about ten miles distant, A grand view was also had of the great 
moraine on the eastern side of the extreme south fork of King's River ; this 
moraine stretches along for six or eight miles in an unbroken line, resembling 
an immense artificial embankment. There is another one on the opposite 
side of the valley which is also very distinct, but the eastern one is much 
the larger. The horizontal distance across from one to the other is about 
a mile and a half. At a distance these moraines appear as regular as rail- 
road embankments, their crests being quite smooth, and having a uniform 
and gradual inclination up the valley. To ascend or descend their sides with 
animals, is a task of considerable difficulty ; but, once on the top, travelling 
is quite easy. In the bottom of the valley the granite is everywhere grooved 
and beautifully polished. 

The view of the canon, towards its head, as seen from this moraine, near 
Camp 175, was sublime, strongly resembling the valley of the Yosemite in 
some of its grandest features. It curves but little, so that the view is unob- 
structed. Great surfaces and precipices of naked granite are seen, often over 
1,000 feet high, but seldom vertical, although sloping at a very high angle; 
these surfaces are everywhere in the valley rounded and polished. Side 
canons of the same character, but still more precipitous, open into the main 
one. 

From Camp 171, Mount Brewer was twice ascended, on the 2d and 4th 
of July, by passing up the valley in which the camp was situated, and 
which divides at the base of the mountain, extending up to the crest of the 
ridge. Its sides were found to be very steep up to above 12,000 feet, 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 



121 



the southern one being an almost vertical wall of 1,000 feet in height. The 
granite of this region is hard, not very coarse, and of a light ash-gray color, 
with a pearly lustre when seen in great masses. It is intersected with veins 



Ficr. 18. 







MOUNT BREWER, FROM A POINT THREE MILES DISTANT, LOOKING EAST. 

of quartz and also of feldspar, and with some made up of a mixtm-e of both 
these minerals ; these veins were rarely more than two or three feet in 
thickness. In general, however, the rock is remarkably homogeneous and 
almost destitute of accidental minerals, a little epidote being the only one 
observed in this region. 

The view from the summit of Mount Brewer is one of the most sublime 
16 



122 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

which it is possible to obtain, even in this sublimest portion of the Sierra. 
The snowy peaks, rising to over 11,000 feet in elevation, cover a breadth 
of more than twenty-five miles, and the point of view on the summit of this 
mountain is such, that the observer is placed in the very midst of this grand 
assemblage. High peaks, sharp ridges bristling with pinnacles, rocky amphi- 
theatres, and deep canons constitute the main features of the scene. The 
summit is a loose and shattered mass of angular pieces of granite, forming 
a ridge some thirty feet long by five broad, which from the west appears as 
a sharp cone. The eastern side of the mountain is a precipice buttressed 
by a thin ridge, running out between two great vertically-walled basins, 
white with snow, which contrasts beautifully with the vivid blue of the 
frozen lakes 3,000 feet below. 

The barometrical measurements make the height of Mount Brewer 13,886 
feet; it is not, however, the culminating point of the Sierra, but is on 
a spur embraced by two branches of King's River. Ten miles farther east 
another ridge stretches in an unbroken line north and south, and through 
its depressions the blue ranges of the desert are plainly seen. On this ridge 
there are fourteen peaks visible, ten of which are as high as Mount Brewer, 
and four higher. One of these, directly opposite, and which appeared to be 
the highest point but one, was called Mount Tyndall, in honor of this distin- 
guished physicist and Alpine explorer. The other high point, eight miles 
south of Mount Tyndall, and, so far as known, the culminating peak of the 
Sierra, was named by the party Mount Whitney. Farther observations, 
by Mr. King, showed that a point about two miles northeast of Mount 
Tyndall was a little higher than this mountain ; it was named in honor 
of Major R. S. Williamson, of the United States Engineers, so well known 
by his topographical labors on the Pacific coast, especially in connection with 
the United States railroad surveys. Thirty-two miles north-northwest is a 
very high mountain, called Mount Goddard, in honor of a Civil Engineer 
who has done much to advance our knowledge of the geography of California, 
and' who is the author of " Britton and Rey's Map." A transverse ridge 
running obliquely across from Mount Brewer to Mount Tyndall forms the 
divide between the head-waters of the Kern and those of King's River. 
South of this, the division of the summit of the Sierra into two parallel 
ridges is very marked, the Kern flowing in the tremendous gorge between 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 123 

them. The eastern ridge forms an almost unbroken wall for a great distance 
to the north, while the western one is less distinctly marked, being broken 
through to allow of the passage of the head-waters of the King's and San 
Joaquin Rivers. The highest portion of the western ridge is that extending 
between Mount Brewer and Kaweah Peak, twelve miles to the south. This 
last-named peak was not reached by our party, but its height was estimated 
to be over 14,000 feet. From its great elevation and peculiar position, 
opposite to the highest point of the Sierra, and the immense depth of the 
canon of the Kern between it and Mount Whitney, it would probably 
command the grandest view which could be obtained in the whole range 
of the Sierra. Kaweah Peak is distinctly visible from Visalia, to one looking 
up the valley of the Kaweah River. 

Of the terrible grandeur of the region embraced in this portion of the 
Sierra it is hardly possible to convey any idea. Mr. Gardner, in his notes 
of the view from Mount Brewer, thus enumerates some of the most striking- 
features of the scene : " Canons from two to five thousand feet deep, between 
thin ridges topped with pinnacles sharp as needles ; successions of great, 
crater-like amphitheatres, with crowning precipices over sweeping snow-fields 
and frozen lakes ; everywhere naked and shattered granite without a sign 
of vegetation, except where a few gnarled and storm-beaten pines (Pin us 
contorta, P. albicaulis, and P. aristata) cling to the rocks in the deeper 
canons ; such were the elements of the scene we looked down upon, while 
cold gray clouds were drifting overhead." 

The upper part of the mountain slopes rapidly on all sides for 2,000 feet 
from the summit, then falls off' more gradually on the west towards the 
canon of the south fork of King's River. On the east, it breaks off sud- 
denly into a great amphitheatre, the head of a canon between 4,000 and 
5,000 feet deep below the crest, surrounded by sheer vertical walls, and with 
glacier-polished slopes at the bottom, over which are scattered several small 
and beautiful lakes. These canons and precipices, which lie between the two 
principal ridges, constitute the main difficulty in reaching and exploring the 
eastern summit peaks. The region is desolate and cold ; but these hin- 
drances, incidental to all high mountain climbing, could be overcome, were 
it not for the impassable precipices which continually block the way, ne- 
cessitating long detours, and rendering it impossible to reach any high 



124 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

peak without a long series of perilous and extremely fatiguing ascents and 
descents. 

As want of provisions and the absolute impossibility of proceeding any 
farther with the animals were sufficient reasons to prevent the whole party 
from making any attempt to climb the summit of the eastern ridge, Mr. 
King volunteered to tmdertake this task, although it seemed to most of the 
party that it was quite impossible to reach either of the highest peaks from 
the ■ western side. Packing provisions for six days and one blanket, he 
started, accompanied by Richard Cotter, from the camp at the base of Mount 
Brewer, July 4th, and the following account of the trip, in which the sum- 
mit of Mount Tyndall was reached, is given nearly in Mr. King's own 
words : — 

" To follow down the ridge which forms the divide between King's and 
Kern Rivers, and which runs obliquely across from Mount Brewer to Mount 
Tyndall, was impossible, for it rose in sharp crags above us, and had we 
been able to pass around these, we should have been stopped by vertical 
clefts over a thousand feet deep. We began, therefore, to climb down the 
eastern slope of the ridge, instead of trying to keep on its crest. The only 
way down was along a sloping shelf, on which we were obliged to proceed 
with the greatest caution, as our packs had a constant tendency to over- 
balance us, and a single misstep would have been fatal. At last we reached 
the base of the cliff safely, and made our way rapidly down a long snow- 
slope and over huge angular masses of debris to the margin of a frozen 
lake. 

" We were now in the amphitheatre ; the crags towering around us were 
all inaccessible, and we were obliged to spend six hours in climbing down 
from the outlet of the lake, over a slope of smooth granite, polished by 
glaciers and kept constantly wet by a shallow current of water, into King's 
River canon, and then up again over a long, difficult debris slope and across 
several fields of snow, into another amphitheatre. Of this the southern wall 
is the divide between King's and Kern Rivers. The sky by this time had 
become quite overcast, and we were obliged to take refuge under some over- 
hanging rocks, while a severe hail-storm went by. We started on again, 
hoping to cross over to Kern Canon ; but the ascent proved very difficult, 
and night overtook us at the foot of a cliff 2,000 feet high. There was no 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 125 

wood, so we burned paper and dead carices enough to make some lukewarm 
tea, and finding a crevice among the ice and granite blocks, somewhat 
sheltered from the biting winds, we retired. The elevation was over 12,000 
feet, and the air stinging cold ; but the sunset view was glorious. The east 
wall of the basin was brilliantly lighted up, its hundred pinnacles were of 
pure yellow, relieved by the dark blue of the sky, which is so noticeable 
when one looks up from a deep canon in the Sierra. A long slope of snow 
opposite us warmed with a soft rosy tinge (the Alpine glow), and the rugged 
ridge behind us cast a serrated gray shadow across it, which slowly crept 
up and scaled the granite wall, until only the very topmost spires were in 
the light. All night long, large masses of granite came crashing down from 
the crags overhead, striking at times too near for comfort. 

" The next morning we ate our frozen venison by starlight, and started at 
sunrise to ascend the snow-slope before it should become softened. We had 
to cut steps, and after working up awhile it became quite difficult, so that 
we were three hours in reaching the rocks, after which we climbed two hours 
more, until we came to a very bad ravine where it was impossible to pro- 
ceed with our packs. It was now that our reata came into play, and we 
took turns in climbing the length of it, and pulling packs and blankets after 
us, reaching the top about noon, by which time the novelty of this method 
of ascent had quite won) off. What was our consternation to find ourselves, 
as we scaled the summit, on the brink of an almost Yosemite cliff! We 
walked along the edge, however, for some distance, until at last we discovered 
three shelves, each about fifty feet below the other, from the lowest of which 
we might, by good luck and hard climbing, work along the face of the cliff 
to a sort of ravine, down which we might probably reach the debris. I tied 
the reata firmly about my body, and Cotter lowered me down to the first 
shelf; he then carefully sent down the precious barometer and our packs. 
Next, he made a fast loop in the lasso, hooked it over a point of rock and 
came down hand over hand, whipping the rope off the rock to which it had 
been fastened, thus severing our communication with the top of the cliff. 
This operation was repeated, not without considerable danger, from the im- 
possibility of finding a firm rock around which to secure the rope, until the 
bottom was at last safely reached. At the "foot of the debris was a beautiful 
lake half a mile long, once the bottom of the bed of a glacier. 



126 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

" There were a few Pinus contorta visible down the course of the Kern, — - 
here only a small brook, — and quite a grove of P. aristata ; these, with a 
few willows and an Alpine Ribes, were all the vegetation we could see, except- 
ing a few carices. Camp was made at the base of the peak, after climbing 
up a difficult ridge, near a little cluster of the Pinus contorta ; this was about 
11,000 feet above the sea. 

" The next day the summit was reached, without serious difficulty, after 
some risky climbing of smooth dome-shaped masses of granite, where the 
only support and aid in climbing was an occasional crack. The barometer 
stood, at 12 m., at 18,104, the temperature of the air being 44°. On setting 
the level, it was seen at once that there were two peaks equally high in 
sight, and two still more elevated, all within a distance of seven miles. Of 
the two highest, one rose close by, hardly a mile away ; it is an inaccessible 
bunch of needles, and we gave it the name of Mount Williamson. The 
other, which we called Mount Whitney, appeared equally inaccessible from 
any point on the north or west side ; it is between seven and eight miles 
distant, in a south-southeast direction, and I should think fully 350 feet 
higher than our peak. (Farther examination showed that it was really 600 
or 700 feet higher than Mount Tyndall.) Within our field of view were five 
mountains over 14,000 feet, and about fifty peaks over 13,000. 

" The five highest peaks are all on the eastern ridge. Owen's Valley, 
a brown sage plain, lies 10,000 feet below on the one side, and Kern Canon, 
once the rocky bed of a grand old glacier, 4,000 feet down on the other. 
About fifteen miles north of here, King's River cuts through the western 
ridge and turns at a right angle towards the plain. North of this point, 
again, the two great ridges unite in a grand pile of granite mountains, 
whose outlines are all of the most rugged and fantastic character. Twenty- 
five miles south, the high group ends, there (cei-tainly for a breadth of sixty 
miles) forming one broad, rolling, forest-covered plateau, 8,000 to 9,000 feet 
in elevation. 

" From Mount Brewer to Kaweah Peak, the two culminating points of the 
western ridge, for a distance of fifteen miles, there is nothing that can be 
called a separate mountain ; it is, rather, a great mural ridge, capped by 
small, sharp cones and low, ragged domes, all covered with little minarets. 
At one place the ridge forms a level table ; upon this lies an unbroken cover 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 127 

of snow. To the eastward, all this range, from King's River gateway to 
Kaweah Peak, presents a series of blank, almost perpendicular precipices, 
broken every mile or so by a bold granite buttress. Between these are vast 
snow-fields, and also numberless deep lakes, of which the most elevated are 
frozen." 

The elevation of Mount Tyndall, as calculated from Mr. King's observa- 
tions, compared with those of the other party, and with the station barometer 
at Visalia, was fixed at 14,386 feet ; this is only fifty-four feet less than the 
altitude of Mount Shasta. 

After Mr. King's return to Camp 171, at the eastern base of Mount 
Brewer, the whole party went back to Big Meadows, having been out of 
provisions for several days, with the exception of a few strips of jerked bear 
meat. Here, also, they were to meet the escort which was considered indis- 
pensable for safely exploring the region to the north. Mr. King, however, 
not being satisfied with his first attempt to reach the culminating point 
of the Sierra, made another start from Visalia July 14th, with no other 
company than an escort of two soldiers. His intention was to follow the 
Owen's Lake and Visalia trail, which leads up the Kaweah River, keeping 
the south fork from its junction with the main river. It was supposed that 
it might be possible to reach the summit of Mount Whitney from this side, 
previous explorations having shown that this coidd not be accomplished from 
the northwest or west. 

The first, camp was at forty miles distance from the edge of the foot-hills, 
the road up the valley being intensely hot, dry, and dusty. From this camp 
the trail led over a rolling plateau of high altitude (probably between 8,000 
and 9,000 feet), partly covered by forests of Pinus contorta, and partly by 
chains of meadows. North of the road was a range of bald, granite hills, 
with groves of pine scattered about their bases, an occasional patch of snow 
appearing on the higher points. This chain of peaks seems to be the contin- 
uation of the divide between the south and main Kaweah Rivers, and it 
continues eastward to the summit of the Sierra, being the southern termi- 
nation of the high ranges to the north ; south of it the country falls off 
gradually to Walker's Pass, forming numerous broad, flat-topped ridges, which 
give the region the general aspect of a table-land, scored down from north 
to south by parallel canons, of which the Kern occupies the deepest. The 



128 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

main and north forks of this river rise far to the north of this table- 
land, and cut their way through it, while the south fork heads on its 
southern slope, and joins the main river, about eight miles below where the 
trail crosses. This plateau is entirely of granite, and the vegetation varies 
according to the altitude. West of the canon of the south fork, the forests 
are chiefly of the Pinus contorta ; between this and the main Kern are 
fine groves of P. Jeffreyi, and occasional oaks. Where the trail crosses the 
main Kern, the river is twenty-five or thirty yards wide ; the water is clear 
and cold, and abundantly supplied with trout. 

From this point the old trail bent southward, crossing the mountains some 
distance below Little Owen's Lake ; the new one was built no farther, and 
from here it was necessary to continue the exploration, without any other 
guides than the eye and the compass. Striking the north fork of the Kern, 
at that point only a brook four or five yards wide, Mr. King followed it up 
for several miles, to where it breaks through an east and west range of 
craggy peaks, which comes down like an immense spur, at right-angles to the 
general course of the Sierra, and is continued as an elevated ridge far down 
the north side of the Kaweah. This range heads in a very high and bare 
granitic peak, called Sheep Rock, from the great number of mountain sheep 
found in this vicinity. It is about eight miles south of Mount Whitney, and 
is the termination of this high portion of the Sierra. 

North of this spur or lateral range through which the north and main 
forks of the Kern both make their way, there is a quadrilateral area, com- 
prised between the two great divisions of the Sierra on the east and west 
sides, and having on the north the transverse ridge which connects Mount 
Tyndall with Mount Whitney. In this the main Kern heads with many 
branches, and to the east of it, in the midst of every difficulty, Mr. King 
worked for three days before he could reach the base of the mountain, whose 
summit he was endeavoring to attain. All his efforts, however, proved 
unsuccessful, so far as this particular object was concerned ; but he was 
enabled to determine the main features of the topography of a considerable 
area, which otherwise would necessarily have been left an entire blank upon 
our map. The highest point reached by him was, according to the most 
reliable calculations, 14,740 feet above the sea-level. At the place where 
this observation was taken he was, as near as he was able to estimate, 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 129 

between 300 and 400 feet lower than the culminating point of the mountain, 
which must, therefore, somewhat exceed 15,000 feet in height. 

The summit is a ridge having somewhat the outline of a helmet, the per- 
pendicular face being turned towards the east, and there is snow on its 
summit, which indicates that there must be a flat surface there. It is the 
culminating point of an immense pile of granite, which is cut almost to the 
centre by numerous steep and often almost vertical canons, ending in high- 
walled amphitheatres. Southward of the main peak there is a range of sharp 
needles, four of which are over 14,000 feet high. The general aspect of the 
group is much like that of Mount Tyndall. Mount Whitney has been 
approached on all sides, except from the east, and, so far, found to be 
utterly inaccessible. 

During the time while Mr. King was exploring about the sources of Kem 
Eiver, Professor Brewer and party continued their route northward, in the 
hope of being able to cross over the higher ridges of the Sierra to the head 
of the San Joaquin. They left the Big Meadows and made their way into 
the great canon of the south fork of King's River by a terribly steep road, 
the descent being between 4,500 and 5,000 feet. The canon here is very 
much like the Yosemite. It is a valley, from half a mile to a mile wide 
at the bottom, about eleven miles long, and closed at the lower end by a 
deep and inaccessible ravine like that below the Yosemite, but deeper and 
more precipitous. It expands above and branches at its head, and is every- 
where surrounded and walled in by grand precipices, broken here and there 
by side canons, resembling the Yosemite in its main features. The walls 
of the King's River canon, however, are nowhere vertical to so great a height 
as El Capital! ; but rather resemble the Sentinel and Cathedral Rocks, 
or the Three Brothers, of the Yosemite Valley. They rise at various points 
to heights estimated to be from 3,500 to 6,000 feet above their base, and 
there is but little debris at the foot of the walls. The height of the lower 
end of the valley above the sea was found to be approximately 4,737 feet; 
that of the upper end, 5,218 feet. At the head of the valley, occupying 
a position analogous to that of the Half Dome at the Yosemite, is the most j 
elevated part of the wall; it is nearly vertical, and between 6,500 and 7,000 ' 
feet high. 

The King's River canon rivals and even surpasses the Yosemite Valley 'ml I 



130 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

the altitude of its surrounding cliffs ; but it has no features so striking 
as the Half Dome, or Tutucanula, nor has it the stupendous waterfalls 
which make that valley quite unrivalled in beauty ; its streams descend by a 
series of what may be called (in California) cascades, of from 150 to 200 
feet high. 

The bottom of the valley is covered with granitic sand, forming a soil 
which supports a fine growth of timber, with here and there a meadow. 
The river abounds in trout. 

The party came into the valley by an old Indian foot-trail, which passes out 
by the north fork, over an exceedingly rough country, and must cross the 
Sierra at an elevation of at least 13,000 feet. This trail was entirely imprac- 
ticable for animals. As it was quite impossible to get north at the head 
of the valley, the party returned a distance of two or three miles, and made 
their way out on the north side, by an exceedingly steep and difficult route, 
canxping four or five miles from the edge of the canon, and at an elevation 
of more than 4,000 feet above it, or 9,308 feet above the sea. This camp 
(No. 180) was situated between the two main forks of King's River, and 
from it a series of fruitless attempts were made to reach Mount Goddard, 
about twenty-four miles distant, in a north-northwesterly direction. The 
ridge between the forks of the King's rises up in a crest, which, three 
miles southwest of Camp 180, is 12,400 feet above the sea. From the 
summit of this ridge there is a precipitous descent to the north, into 
the canon of the middle fork, which is, perhaps, even deeper than the one 
just described. 

The crest presents a very serrated outline. Two peaks lying just in front 
of it are especially fine ; they are between five and six miles east of Camp 
180 ; both are probably over 14,000 feet high, the northern being a little 
the higher. This was named Mount King, and the southern one Mount 
Gardner. Mount King breaks off in grand precipices on the northwest side, 
like the Half Dome ; these are several thousand feet in height, and almost 
vertical, producing the effect of an immense obelisk. The annexed woodcut 
(Fig. 19), from a sketch by Mr. Hoffmann, gives an idea of the form of this 
grand peak; the point of view was at Camp 180, about six miles west 
of the summit. 

The region around the crest of the ridge between the forks of the King's 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 



131 



Fig. 19. 






i^# . 51 



il* Z^'?/ .'.A> : ^ sty\. 




MOUNT KING, LOOKING EAST, FROM CAMP 180. 



consists of granite masses, with spurs projecting out from them, and em- 
bracing basins of bare rock, each having a small lake at the bottom. The 
only living things visible in these valleys are the grasses in the small 
meadows which border the lakes. Everywhere else are to be seen only 
smooth, bare rocks, or granitic debris in steeply-sloping piles at the base 
of the precipices. The crests of the ridges are thin and shattered, — so thin 
that, in some cases, they could only be traversed by hitching the body over 
while sitting astride of them. 

At the head of the north fork, along the main crest of the Sierra, is a 
range of peaks, from 13,500 to 14,000 feet high, which we called "the 
Palisades." These were unlike the rest of the crest in outline and color, and 
were doubtless volcanic ; they were very grand and fantastic in shape, like 
the rocks seen on the Silver Mountain trail near Ebbett's Pass. (See Plate 
III.) All doubts as to the nature of these peaks were removed after observ- 
ing on the east side of the crest, in Owen's Valley, vast streams of lava which 
had flowed down the slope of the Sierra, just below the Palisades. 



132 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Three days were spent by the party in trying to find some place where 
the ridge between the forks of the King's could be crossed with animals, 
so that the party could reach the middle fork and thence make their way 
to Mount Goddard. This was ascertained to be impossible, and it was found 
necessary to return to the canon of the south fork. From here it was, after 
some hesitation, decided to cross the mountains into Owen's Valley, and, 
after following it up for forty or fifty miles, to turn west and cross the 
Sierra again, so as thus to reach the head-waters of the San Joaquin, over 
a trail which was made, in 1863, by a party of soldiers in pursuit of 
Indians. 

A day and a half was required to make the distance of twelve miles which 
lay between Camp 179, in the south fork canon, and the summit of the 
Sierra ; although the labor of crossing was much facilitated by the fact that 
a party of prospecters had crossed here not long before, and had done a 
good deal 'towards making a passable trail. Camp 181, midway between 
the valley and the summit, was found to be 9,627 feet high. To the north 
of this camp, and nearly east of Mount King, but on the main crest of the 
Sierra, was a high, naked rock, rising fully 3,000 feet above the trail at its 
base, and one of the grandest objects seen among these mountains. The 
sketch (Fig. 20) will serve to convey a faint idea of its majestic form. 

The distance from Camp 181 to the summit was found to be about eight 
miles. The crest, on the pass, is double, the first summit being 11,031 feet 
high, and the eastern one 12,057 feet. The latter is a very sharp ridge, 
with both sides inclined at as steep an angle as the loose materials could 
maintain without sliding; the actual crest is a sharp comb of rock. The 
peaks on each side are very steep, and were estimated to be 2,500 feet 
above the pass, or fully 14,500 feet above the sea. At this time (July 27) 
there was no snow on the line traversed by our party, although large patches 
were seen much lower down in shaded localities. 

From the crest of the Sierra to its base in Owen's Valley is about eight 
miles in a direct line, and the average descent is just 1,000 feet per mile 
for that distance. From the foot of the mountains a gradual and uniform 
slope extends into the valley, foi-ming an inclined plane, strewn with boulders 
resting upon a sandy soil. This plain is dry and barren, and covered with 
the usual desert shrubs, Artemisia, Purshia, Linosyris, and others. The 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 



133 



Fig. 20. 







PEAK NEAR CAMP 181. 



highest peaks of the main crest are not more than ten or eleven miles from 
the valley, and fully 10,500 feet above it. 

The mountains were entered again at the head of the west branch of 
Owen's Eiver, on which Camp 187 was situated, at an elevation of 9,298 feet 
above the sea. To the north of this is an extremely ban-en table of lava, 
and on the south granite. The valley of the stream is half a mile wide, and 
flanked on both sides by beautifully regular moraines, from 1,000 to 1,200 
feet above the bottom. 

The summit of the Sierra was crossed at an altitude of 12,400 feet, and 
although the crest rose up in front, appearing as one continuous wall, and 
seemingly not to be scaled, yet the ascent was found to be on a compar- 
atively easy grade, with the exception of one rocky place near the summit. 
There is an obscure Indian foot-trail which crosses here, and a body of 
seventy cavalry, with their pack-train, crossed by it in June, 1863. At that 
time there were patches of snow half a mile long upon the road. A wagon- 
road could be made over this pass, without much difficulty ; but its great 



134 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

height, and the immense body of snow which must lie here during nearly 
or quite all the year, forbid the idea of any such undertaking. The crest 
here is very rugged, rising in precipitous ridges about 1,000 feet above the 
pass in its immediate vicinity, and perhaps 2,000 feet at a little distance 
north and south. 

The views from the high points above the trail at the summit were of the 
grandest description. Eight miles to the north was a group of dark, crimson- 
colored peaks, and twenty-five miles farther in that direction were the 
snow-clad ranges near Mono Lake. In a southerly direction rose a vast mass 
of granite peaks and ridges, with the same sharp scattered crests, vertical 
cliffs overhanging snow-fields and amphitheatres with frozen lakes, which were 
the main features of the views in the region about the head of King's 
Eiver. 

On the west side of the pass there was one mile of rocky and steep 
descent ; but otherwise no difficulty was experienced. Great slopes were 
traversed, which were worn and polished by glaciers, and, as everywhere else 
in the Sierra, these exhibitions of ancient glacial phenomena were exhibited 
on a much grander scale on the west slope of the Sierra than they had 
been observed to be on the eastern side. 

Camp 188, a little below the summit, was at an elevation of 9,940 feet, 
and from this high peaks on both sides were ascended and examined. Mr. 
Gardner visited the crimson-colored group noticed above, and which was 
about five miles north of the camp. The rocks were found to be of meta- 
morphic slate, which continues about eight miles to the north, and is 
there lost under the granite. Enclosed in the slate, and having the same dip 
and strike, is a vein of white quartz rock sixty to seventy feet wide. The 
"Red Slate Peaks," as they were called, were found to be about 13,400 feet 
in elevation. This group forms the northern termination of the great 
elevated range of the Sieixa, which stretches to the south, for a distance 
of over ninety miles, without any depression below 12,000 feet, in all proba- 
bility the highest continuous mass of mountains in North America. To the 
north, between the Red Slate Peaks and the Mono Group, a considerable 
depression exists, over which is a pass, of the height of which we have no 
positive knowledge. 

There is a great depression whei'e the three largest branches of the King's 



THE HIGH SIEKEA. 135 

come together. In this Camp 189 was made, at a distance of twenty-two 
miles from the summit of the Sierra, and 6,930 feet above the sea. Grassy 
meadows occur here, and rising above them are many rocky knolls rounded 
by former glaciers. This locality has long been a favorite resort of the 
Indians, on account of its remoteness from the settled part of California, and 
its consequent security. The abundance of game and the great number 
of pine trees in this valley also added to its charms. Thousands of trees 
were seen which had trenches dug around them, to catch the worms which 
live in the bark, as is said ; these, as well as the nuts of the pine, are 
staple articles of food among the " Diggers." All the movements of our 
party were watched by the Indians from a distance and signalled by smokes, 
but no attack was made, as there might have been, had they not been 
provided with an escort. 

From Camp 189 the country to the south was explored, in the direction 
of Mount Goddard, an important topographical station for connecting with 
the work on the other side of the King's. In going from Camp 189 to 190 
the middle and south forks of the San Joaquin were crossed, and a due 
south course was kept towards a high point on the ridge, eight miles distant. 
The valley widens out here, and includes a broad belt of rolling country, 
with numerous low hills of granite, whose tops and sides are all smoothly 
rounded by glacial action. The predominant trees here are Pinus Jeffreyi 
and P. contorta. As we rise out of the valley, immense moraines are seen 
at the height of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the valley. A glacier, at 
least 1,500 feet deep, eight or nine miles wide, and probably thirty miles 
long, perhaps much more, once flowed down this valley, and has left its 
traces evei'ywhere along its sides. 

A peak a little south of Camp 190, and 10,711 feet above the sea, was 
climbed ; from this a grand view of the Sierra between the Obelisk Range 
and the Mount Brewer Group was obtained. The snow lay on this ridge 
several hundred feet below the summit ; but the Pinus albicaulis grows to 
the very top. This forms one of a series of high points which extend in a 
line nearly parallel with the crest of the Sierra, and from sixteen to twenty 
miles distant from it, thus preserving all through this region the same 
double-crested character which the range has farther south around the head 
of King's River. 



136 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

The next move took the party about twelve miles in a southeasterly 
direction, and to a point only eighteen miles from Mount Goddard. This 
camp (No. 191) was at an elevation of 10,268 feet. The route followed lay 
along and over a ridge, with a very sharp crest breaking off in grand preci- 
pices on each side. It has also a parapet along the south edge similar 
to that described as forming the rim of the Kettle ; this is in places thirty 
feet high, and rises like a grand wall, with a narrow shelf on the north ; 
from this there is a very steep slope down for a thousand feet or more. 

From Camp 191 an unsuccessful attempt was made to reach Mount God- 
dard, without the animals, as they could be taken no farther. The only 
possible way led along the divide between King's and San Joaquin Rivers, 
over a series of ridges, high and sharp, with valleys between, a thousand 
feet deep or more, so that progress was excessively slow and tiresome. 
Cotter and one of the soldiers succeeded, after a day's climbing, in getting 
within 300 feet of the summit, and hung up the barometer just before 
it was too dark to see to read it. They were then at an elevation of 13,648 
feet, making the height of the mountain about 14,000 feet. The return 
to an impromptu camp, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet and without 
provisions or fire, made by the remainder of the party at the base of the 
mountain, required the whole night, and was hazardous in the extreme. 

From Camp 191 the party returned to 189, and from there worked to the 
northwest in the cafion of the north fork of the San Joaquin. For three 
fourths of the way the route followed led down the depression at the 
junction of the three forks before noticed. This depression has the appear- 
ance of a valley only when seen from the heights around it. There are 
numerous flats lying between rounded hills of bare granite ; these flats are 
sometimes covered by forests, but many of them form beautiful open meadows 
in which many thousand cattle might be pastured. 

The' north fork of the San Joaquin comes down through a very deep 
cafion, and the wide, open, valley-like depression terminates here. This 
cafion is from 3,000 to 4,000 feet deep, and proved to be a serious obstacle 
to the advance of the party. Near the junction of the north and main forks 
it is a mere notch, and its walls exhibit some grandly picturesque features. 
Two or three miles southeast of this is a most remarkable dome, more 
perfect in its form than any before seen in the State. It rises to the height 



THE HIGH SIERRA. 137 

of 1,800 feet above the river, and presents exactly the appearance of the 
upper - part of a sphere ; or, as Professor Brewer says, " of the top of a 
gigantic balloon struggling to get up through the rock." 

Camp 194, in the canon, was at an altitude of about 4,750 feet, while the 
ranges to the east and northeast rose from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above this, 
and those on the west about 3,000 feet. The sides of the canon are very 
abrupt, and present immense surfaces of naked granite, resembling the valley 
of the Yosemite. There are everywhere in this valley the traces of former 
glaciers, on an immense scale, and as the party rose above the canon on the 
north, in leaving the river, the moraine on the opposite side was seen very 
distinctly, and appeared to be at an elevation of not less than 3,000 feet 
above the bottom of the valley. It was evident that the glaciers which came 
down the various branches of the San Joaquin all united here to form one 
immense "sea of ice," which filled the whole of the wide depression spoken 
of above, and left its moraines at this higli elevation above the present river- 
bed. 

The party passed out of the canon to the northwest, first ascending a steep 
ridge, over 3,000 feet high, and then entering a wide elevated valley, where 
Camp 195 was made, at an elevation of about 7,250 feet. On the high ridge 
traversed in getting to this camp were many boulders of lava, which must 
have been brought from some more northerly point and dropped in their 
present position by ancient glaciers. The source of these boulders seems 
to have been near Mount Clark, in the Obelisk Range. The view from the 
summit of the ridge was a grand one, commanding the whole of the Mount 
Lyell and Obelisk Groups, as well as the main range of the Sierra to the 
east, where are many dark-colored peaks, apparently volcanic. A very high 
and massive peak was seen to the east of Mount Lyell, which has since been 
named by us Mount Ritter, and is believed to be the dominating point 
of the group (see page 109). 

In the depression to the- west of the ridge noticed above are heavy forests 
and fine meadows scattei'ed over the country, into which many cattle had 
been driven from Fresno County, to escape the extreme drought of the season. 
The meadows occupy the flats or level intervals between the domes of 
granite ; grassy " flats," as they are called, occur everywhere along the Sierra 
at about this altitude, on the high lands between the large streams. 
18 



138 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Camp 196, a few miles north of 195, was at the base of a prominent peak, 
which was supposed to belong to the Obelisk Group, for which the party 
was aiming. On ascending it, however, it was found to be about ten miles 
due south of the Obelisk. It was found to be 10,950 feet high and com- 
manded a fine view. This is called Black Mountain on the map accompany- 
iug the present volume. Eighteen miles northeast of this is the lowest gap 
or pass over the Sierra which occurs between Carson's and Walker's Passes, 
a distance of about 250 miles. An approximation to its height was obtained 
by an observation of the barometer on the peak ascended near Camp 195, 
at a point which was ascertained by levelling to be at about the same 
altitude as the pass itself. The result of the calculation gave 9,200 feet 
as the height of the summit of the pass, which is considerably lower than 
the Mono Pass. Cattle have been driven across to Owen's Valley over this 
route, the north fork of the San Joaquin being crossed at a point much 
farther up than where our party traversed it, and where the canon is not 
nearly so deep. 

From Camp 196 the party made their way, as rapidly as the worn-out 
condition of the men and horses permitted, to Clark's ranch, on the trail 
froni Mariposa to the Yosemite. They first travelled in a southwesterly 
direction, over a region of dome-shaped granite hills, for a distance of twenty- 
three miles, and camped at the head of the Chiquito San Joaquin, and at 
the altitude of 7,463 feet. Many meadows were passed, into which large 
numbers of cattle had been driven. One of these is known as Xeal's ranch, 
or Jackass Meadows. From this point there were trails which could be 
followed, and this was the first sign of a return to the regions of civili- 
zation. 



THE BIG TKEES. 139 



CHAPTER V. 

THE BIG TREES. 

The fact that, in addition to the Yosemite Valley, already described in the 
preceding pages, Congress has given to the State of California, to hold as a 
public park, one of the largest and finest groves of the so-called (par excel- 
lence) Big Trees, makes it incumbent on us to devote one chapter of the 
present volume to a statement of some of the most interesting facts concern- 
ing these truly remarkable productions of the vegetable kingdom. This we 
do the more readily, as it is astonishing how little that is really reliable 
is to be found in all that has been published about the Big Trees. No 
correct statement of their distribution or dimensions has appeared in print; 
and, if their age has been correctly stated in one or two scientific journals, 
no such information ever finds its way into the popular descriptions of this 
tree, which are repeated over and over again in contributions to newspapers, 
and in books of travel. For all the statements here made the Geological 
Survey is responsible, except when it is otherwise expressly stated. For the 
history of the botanical name of this species I am specially indebted to 
Professor Brewer, Botanist of the Survey, who has investigated this somewhat 
complicated subject with care and with access to all the authorities. 

According to Mr. Hutchings's statement, the Calaveras Grove of Big Trees 
was the first one discovered by white men, and the date was the spring 
of 1852. The person who first stumbled on these vegetable monsters was 
Mr. A. T. Dowd, a hunter employed by the Union Water Company to 
supply the men in their employ with fresh meat, while digging a canal 
to bring water down to Murphy's. According to the accounts, the discoverer 
found that his story gained so little credence among the workmen that 
he was obliged to resort to a ruse to get them to the spot where the trees 
were. 

The wonderful tale of the Big Trees soon found its way into the papers, 



140 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

and appears to have been first published in the Sonora Herald, the nearest 
periodical to the locality. The account was republished, among other papers, 
in the Echo du Pacific of San Francisco, then copied into the London 
Athenseum of July 23d, 1853 (p. 892), which is believed to be the first 
notice published in Europe, and from there again into the Gardener's Chronicle 
of London, where it appeared July 30th, 1853 (p. 488). In the last-named 
journal, for December 24th, page 819, Dr. Lindley published the first scien- 
tific description of the Big Tree. Overlooking its close affinity with the 
already described redwood, he regarded it as the type of a new genus, which 
he called Wellingtonia, adding the specific name of gigantea. His specimens 
were received from Mr. William Lobb, through Messrs. Veitch & Sons, well- 
known nurserymen. The tree had been previously brought to the notice 
of scientific men in San Francisco, and specimens had been sent to Dr. 
Torrey in New York considerably earlier than to Dr. Lindley, but the speci- 
mens were lost in transmission ; and, no description having been published in 
San Francisco, although Drs. Kellogg and Behr had brought it to the notice 
of the California Academy early that year as a new species, the honor and 
opportunity of naming it was lost to American botanists. The closely allied 
species of the same genus, the Sequoia sempervirens, the redwood, had been 
named and described by Endlicher in 1847, and was well known to botanists 
all over the world in 1852. 

At the meeting of the " Soci^te" Botanique de France," held June 28th, 
1854, the eminent botanist Decaisne presented specimens of the two species, 
the Big Tree and the redwood, with those of other Californian coniferce, 
recently received from the Consular Agent of France at San Francisco. At 
this meeting M. Decaisne gave his reasons, at some length, for considering 
the redwood and the more recently discovered " Big Tree " to belong to the 
same genus, Sequoia, and, in accordance with the rules of botanical nomen- 
clature, called the new species Sequoia gigantea. The report of these pro- 
ceedings is to be found in the Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de France, 
Vol. I. p. 70, which was issued in July (probably) of 1854. 

In the mean time specimens had been received by Dr. Torrey at New 
York, and in September of the same year (1854) Professor Gray, of Cam- 
bridge, published, in the American Journal of Science, appended to a notice 
-of the age of the redwood, a statement, on his own authority, that a com- 



THE BIG TREES. 141 

parison of the cones of that tree and those of the so-called Wellingtonia 
of Lindley did not bring to view any differences adequate to the establish- 
ment of a new genus. To this Professor Gray adds : " The so-called Welling- 
tonia will hereafter bear the name imposed by Dr. Torrey, namely, that of 
Sequoia gigantea." It does not appear, however, on examination, that Dr. 
Torrey had himself published any description of the Big Tree, or of the fact 
that he considered it generically identical with the redwood, and priority seems 
to have been secured by Decaisne, so that the name must now stand as 
Sequoia gigantea, Decaisne. It is to the happy accident of the generic agree- 
ment of the Big Tree with the redwood that we owe it that we are not 
now obliged to call the largest and most interesting tree of America after an 
English military hero; had it been an English botanist of the highest emi- 
nence, the dose would not have been so unpalatable. 

No other plant ever attracted so much attention or attained such a 
celebrity within so short a period. The references to it in scientific works 
and journals already number between one and two hundred, and it has been 
the theme of innumerable articles in popular periodicals and books of travel, 
in various languages ; probably there is hardly a newspaper in Christendom 
that has not published some item on the subject. 

Seeds were first sent to Europe and the Eastern States in 1853, and since 
that time immense numbers have found their way to market. They ger- 
minate readily, and it is probable that hundreds of thousands of the trees 
(millions it is said) are growing in different parts of the world from seeds 
planted. They flourish with peculiar luxuriance in Great Britain, and grow 
with extraordinary rapidity. Numerous examples are cited where they have 
grown over two feet per year, and have produced cones when four or five 
years old. Some marked " gardener's varieties " are already in the market. 

The genus was named in honor of Sequoia* or Sequoyah, a Cherokee 
Indian of mixed blood, better known by his English name of George Guess, 
who is supposed to have been born about 1770, and who lived in Will's 
Valley, in the extreme northeastern corner of Alabama, among the Cherokees. 

* Endlicher, who named the genu?, was not only a learned hotanist, but was eminent in ethno- 
logical research, and was undoubtedly well aquainted with Sequoia's career. The name is also, and 
more generally, spelt " Sequoyah," which is the English way of writing it, while the other is what it 
would naturally and properly be in Latin. 



142 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

He became known to the world by his invention of an alphabet and written 
language for his tribe. This alphabet, which was constructed with wonderful 
ingenuity, consisted of eighty-six characters, each representing a syllable ; and 
it had already come into use, to a considerable extent, before the whites had 
heard anything of it. After a time the missionaries took up Sequoyah's idea, 
and had types cast and a printing-press supplied to the Cherokee nation, 
and a newspaper was started in 1828, partly in this character. Driven with 
the rest of his tribe beyond the Mississippi, he died in New Mexico, in 1843. 
His remarkable alphabet is still in use, although destined to pass away with 
his nation, but not into oblivion, for his name attached to one of the 
grandest and most impressive productions of the vegetable kingdom will 
forever keep his memory green.* 

Having given a few items in the history of the discovery of the Big Trees, 
we will pass on to detail some of the facts in regard to their geographical 
distribution, age, size, and appearance, with which it will be desirable for 
travellers to be acquainted. 

The Big Tree is extremely limited in its range ; even more so than its 
twin brother, the redwood. The latter is strictly a Coast Range or sea-board 
tree ; the other inland, or exclusively limited to the Sierra. Both trees are, 
also, peculiarly Californian. A very few of the redwood may be found just 
across the border in Oregon, but the Big Tree has never been found outside 
of California, and probably never will be.f 

The redwood forms an interrupted belt along the Coast Ranges, from 
about latitude 36° to 42°, or from a little below the head of the Nacimiento 
River, north to the northern boundary of the State. Between the southern 
termination of the belt and Carmelo, the redwoods occur but sparingly, 
nowhere forming extensive groves ; and from Carmelo to the Pajaro River 
they are interrupted altogether. Near the last-named place this tree sets in 
again, and forms a tolerably continuous belt north to a point nearly opposite 

* For the above particulars of Sequoyah's history, and several other items which we have not here 
space to publish, we are indebted to Professor Brewer. 

t There are several fossil species of the genus Sequoia. The Miocene Tertiary of Greenland, in 70° 
north latitude, furnishes one, — the Sequoia Langsdorffii — which, according to the eminent botanist 
Heer, can with difficulty be distinguished from the redwood of California; it may, perhaps, be iden- 
tical with it. The statement above, that the Sequoia is a peculiarly Californian genus, must be under- 
stood as referring to the vegetation of the present geological epoch, and not to that of former ages. 



THE BIG TEEES. 143 

Half-Moon Bay, keeping well upon the -western side of the ridges, but 
descending on the eastern side into the cafions. There were formerly fine 
redwoods opposite San Francisco, along the crest of the Contra Costa Hills ; 
but they are now all cut down. The small patches of them in Marin 
County are fast going the same way. Beyond Russian River, however, the 
belt of redwoods widens out rapidly, forming almost a continuous forest, some 
ten or fifteen miles in width, up to the northern end of Mendocino County, 
or for more than a hundred miles. From here north, through Humboldt, 
Klamath, and Del Norte Counties, this tree occurs in more or less discon- 
nected patches, some of which, however, cover an extensive area. In this 
direction the redwood gradually approaches the coast, and at Humboldt and 
Trinity Bays, and near Crescent City, is directly upon the ocean. Mr. Bo- 
lander thinks that his observations show clearly that the redwood is exclu- 
sively confined to a peculiar kind of rock, — the metamorphic sandstone, — and 
it is certain, also, that it will only flourish when it is frequently enveloped in 
the ocean fogs. 

The redwood is the glory of the Coast Ranges ; its gigantic size and its 
beauty of form and foliage entitle it to a place hardly second to that of the 
Big Tree itself, as may be gathered from the following facts derived chiefly 
from the notes of Messrs. Brewer and Bolander. 

Near Santa Cruz is a redwood grove of great beauty ; the largest tree 
is 50 feet in circumference at the base and 275 feet high. Near Crescent 
City Professor Brewer measured one 58 feet in circumference at four feet 
from the ground, and it scarcely swelled at all at its base. Several 
persons stated, however, that there were larger ones south of this, and that, 
near the Klamath River, there were some as much as 30 feet in diameter. 
Mr. Ashburner heard of a hollow redwood stump, seven miles back from 
Eureka, 38 feet in diameter, in which 33 pack-mules Mere corralled at one 
time. Mr. Bolander reported a redwood 25 feet in diameter, near Little 
River, Mendocino County. 

During the stormy winter of 1861-62 immense numbers of redwood logs 
were carried out to sea, along the coast in the northern part of the State. 
They were so abundant as to he dangerous to ships at a distance of over 
150 miles from land. During a heavy southwest gale great numbers of these 
were cast on shore near Crescent City, and thrown together in gigantic piles. 



144 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Professor Brewer measured a dozen of these broken, battered logs, and found 
them to vary from 120 to 210 feet in length ; one of 200 feet was, ten feet 
in diameter at the base, and another of 210 feet was three feet in diameter 
at the little end. Accurate measurements of the height of the trees standing 
in the forests of this region are wanting; but there are supposed to be many 
redwoods from 250 to 300 feet in elevation. 

Thus we see, that in size the redwood falls but very little below the Big 
Tree, and it is not impossible that some of the former may yet be found as 
large as any of the latter. In general effect the forests of redwood, in the 
opinion of Professor Brewer, surpass even the groves of Big Trees. The 
great reason for this is, that the redwood forms frequently almost the entire 
forest, while the Big Tree nowhere occurs except scattered among other trees, 
and never in clusters or groups isolated from other species. Let one 
imagine an entire forest, extending as far as the eye can reach, of trees of 
from eight to twelve feet in diameter, and from 200 to 300 feet high, 
thickly grouped, then trunks marvellously straight, not branching until they 
reach from 100 to 150 feet above the ground, and then forming a dense 
canopy, which shuts out the view of the sky, the contrast of the bright 
cinnamon-colored trunks with the sombre deep yet brilliant green of the 
foliage, the utter silence of these forests, where often no sound can be heard 
except the low thunder of the breaking surf of the distant ocean, — let one 
picture to himself a scene like this, and he may perhaps receive a faint 
impression of the majestic grandeur of the redwood forests of California. 

The Big Tree occurs exclusively in " groves," or scattered over limited 
areas, never forming groups by themselves, but always disseminated among 
a much larger number of trees of other kinds. These patches on which 
the Big Trees stand do not equal in area a hundredth part of that which 
the redwoods cover exclusively. We are quite unable to state the number 
of square miles or acres on which the Big Trees grow, except for two of 
the groves, the Calaveras and Mariposa, both of which have been carefully 
surveyed by our parties. It may be roughly stated, however, that this area 
does not, so far as yet known, exceed fifty square miles, and that most of 
this is in one patch, between King's and Kaweah Rivers, as will be noticed 
farther on. 

The groves of the Big Trees are limited in latitude between 36° and 



THE BIG TEEES. 145 

38° 15' nearly, at least so far as we now know. The Calaveras Grove is 
the most northerly, and one on the south fork, of the Tule is the farthest 
south of any yet known to us. They are also quite limited in vertical 
range, since they nowhere descend much below 5,000 or rise above 7,000 
feet. They follow the other trees of California, in this respect, that they 
occur lower down on the Sierra as we go northwards ; the most northerly 
grove, that of Calaveras, is the lowest in elevation above the sea-level. 

Wo will first describe, or notice, so far as our space allows, the different 
groves which have been discovered, giving more details of tbat one which lias 
been given by Congress to the State of California " for public use and 
recreation," and we will then state some general facts connected with this 
species, which will be better understood after reading what has preceded. 

There are eight distinct patches or groves of the Big Trees, — or nine, if 
we should consider the Mariposa trees as belonging to two different groups, 
which is hardly necessary, inasmuch as there is only a ridge half a mile in 
width separating the upper grove from the lower. The eight groves are, 
in geographical order from north to south : first, the Calaveras ; second, the 
Stanislaus; third, Crane Flat; fourth, Mariposa; fifth, Fresno; sixth, King's 
and Kawcah Bayers ; seventh, North Fork Tule River eighth, South Fork 
Tule River. These we will now notice in the above order, beginning with 
the ono best known and most visited. 

The Calaveras Grove is situated in the county of that name, about sixteen 
miles from Murphy's Camp, and near the Stanislaus [liver. It is on, or near, 
the road crossing the Sierra by the Silver Mountain Pass. This being the 
first grove of the Big Trees discovered, and the most accessible, it has come 
more into notice and been much more visited than any ot the others ; 
indeed, this and the Mariposa Grove are the only ones which have become 
a resort for travellers. The Calaveras Grove has also the great advantage 
over the others, that a good hotel is kept there, and that it is accessible 
on wheels, all the others being at a greater or less distance from any road. 

This grove occupies a belt 3,200 feet long by 700 feet broad, extending in 
a northwest and southeast direction, in a depression between two slopes, 
through which meanders a small brook which dries up in the summer. 
There are between 90 and 100 trees of large size in the grove, and a consid- 
erable number of small ones, chiefly on the outskirts. Several have fallen 
19 



146 



THE YO SEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 



since the grove was discovered ; one has been cut down ; and one has had 
the bark stripped from it up to the height of 116 feet above the ground. 
The bark thus removed was exhibited in different places, and finally found 
a resting-place in the Sydenham Crystal Palace, where it was unfortunately 
burned, in the fire which consumed a part of that building a few years since. 
The two trees thus destroyed were perhaps the finest in the grove ; the 
tallest now standing is the one called the " Keystone State " ; the largest 
and finest is known as the " Empire State." The height of this grove above 
the sea-level is 4,759 feet. 

The annexed table shows the elevation of all the trees which could 
be conveniently measured, and their circumference at six feet above the 
ground : — 

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS OF HEIGHT AND CIRCUMFERENCE OF 
TREES IN THE CALAVERAS GROVE. 



Name of Tree. 



Circumference 

6 feet above 

ground. 



Height. 



Keystone State 

General Jackson 

Mother of the Forest (without hark) 

Daniel Wehster 

Richard Cobden 

T. Starr King 

Pride of the Forest 

Henry Clay 

Bay State 

Jas. King of William 

Sentinel 

Dr. Kane 

Arborvitae Queen 

Abraham Lincoln 

Maid of Honor 

Old Vermont 

Uncle Sam 

Mother & Son (Mother) 

Three Graces (highest) 

Wm. Cullen Bryant 

U. S. Grant 

General Scott 

George Washington 

Henry Ward Beecher 

California 

Uncle Tom's Cabin 

Beautv of the Forest 

J. B. M'Pherson 

Florence Nightingale 

James Wadsworth 

Elihu Burritt 



Feet. 
45 
40 
61 
47 
41 
52 
48 
47 
46 
51 
49 
50 
30 
44 
27 
40 
43 
51 
30 
48 
34 
43 
51 
34 
33 
50 
39 
31 
37 
27 
31 



Feet. 
325 
319 
315 
307 
284 
283 
282 
280 
275 
274 
272 
271 
269 
268 
266 
265 
265 
261 
262 
262 
261 
258 
256 
252 
250 
250 
249 
246 
246 
239 
231 



THE BIG TREES. 147 

The exact measurement of the diameter and the ascertaining of the age 
of one of the largest trees in this grove was made possible by cutting it 
down. This was done soon after the grove was discovered, and is said to 
have occupied five men during twenty-two days. The felling was done by 
boring through the tree with pump-augers ; it was no small affair to persuade 
the trunk to fall, even after it had been completely severed from its connec- 
tion with the base. It was done, however, by driving in wedges on one side, 
until the ponderous mass was inclined sufficiently, which was not effected 
until after three days of labor. 

The stump of this tree was squared off smoothly at six feet above the 
ground, and the bark being removed, a pavilion was built over it, forming a 
capacious room, the exact dimensions of the stump inside of the bark being, 

Across its longest diameter, south of centre, 13 feet 9$ inches. 

" " " north of centre, 10 " 4 

Total longest diameter . . . . 24 " 1 i " 

The shorter diameter, or that east and west, was 23 feet, divided exactly 
even on each side of the centre. The thickness of the bark, averaging 18 
inches probably, would add three feet to the diameter of the tree, making 
27 feet in all. After this tree had been cut down, it was again cut through 
about 30 feet from the first cut. At the upper end of this section of the 
trunk, or about 40 feet from the ground, as the tree originally stood, we 
carefully counted the rings of annual growth, measuring at the same time 
the width of each set of one hundred, beginning at the exterior ; the result 
was as follows : — 

First hundred 3.0 inches. 

Second " 3.7 " 

Third " 4.1 " 

Fourth " 3.9 " 

Fifth " 4.1 " 

Sixth " 4.1 " 

Seventh " 4.6 " 

Eighth " 5.6 " 

Ninth " 7.3 " 

Tenth " 7.9 " 

Eleventh" 10.1 " 

Twelfth " 13.0 " 

55 years " 9.4 " 

1,255 years. 80.8 " 



143 THE YOSEMTTE GUIDE-BOOK. 

There was a small cavity in the centre of the tree which prevented an 
accurate fixing of its age ; but making due allowance for that, and for the 
time required to grow to the height at which the count was made, it will 
be safe to say that this particular tree, which was probably about as large 
as any now standing in the grove, was, in round numbers, 1,300 years old. 

The Calaveras Grove contains, as will be seen in the table on page 146, 
four trees over 300 feet high, the highest one measured in the Mariposa 
Grove being 272. The published statements of the heights of these trees 
are considerably exaggerated, as will be noticed ; but our measurements can 
be relied on as being correct.* The Keystone State has the honor of stand- 
ing at the head, with 325 feet as its elevation, and this is the tallest tree 
yet measured on this continent, so far as our information goes. When we 
observe how regularly and gradually the trees diminish in sLze, from the 
highest down, it will be evident that the stories told, of trees having once 
stood in this grove over 400 feet in height, are not entitled to credence. It 
is not at all likely that any one tree should have overtopped all the others 
by 75 feet or more. The same condition of general average elevation, and 
absence of trees very much taller than any of the rest in the grove, will 
be noticed among the trees on the Mariposa grant, where, however, there 
is no one as high as 300 feet. 

The next grove south of the one just noticed is south of the Stanislaus 
Eiver, near the borders of Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. It has never 
been visited by any member of the Geological Survey, and is not located on 
any map. It has been described to us as being about ten miles southeast 
of the Calaveras Grove, on Beaver Creek, a branch of the Stanislaus. It is 
said to contain from 600 to 800 trees, but none as large as those already 
described. 

About twenty-five miles southeast of the last-mentioned grove is another, 
which may be called the Crane Flat Grove, as it is from a mile to a mile 
and a hah' from the station of that name on the Coulterville trail to the 
Tosemite, in a northwesterly direction. It was visited by our party, in haste, 
and its extent was not ascertained nor the number of trees counted. They 
stand mostly on the north slope of a hill, rather sheltered from the wind ; 

* Several trees were measured twice, and the results, in every case, found to be closely coincident. 



THE BIG TREES. 149 

and, so far as observed, are rather smaller than those of the Calaveras Grove. 
The largest sound tree measured was 57 feet in circumference, at three feet 
from the ground. A stump, so burned that only one half remained, was 23 
feet in diameter, inside the bark at three feet from the ground. A single 
Big Tree stands in the woods, by itself, somewhere southwest of the Crane 
Flat Grove, and between it and the Merced. It is the only instance, so far 
as we know, of the occurrence of this species thus solitary and alone. There 
is an almost entirely unexplored region between the Beaver Creek and the 
Crane Flat Groves, and there may possibly be some more Big Trees existing 
there and not yet discovered. It is about twenty miles, still in a south- 
westerly direction, from Crane Flat to the Mariposa Grove, and that region 
has been so thoroughly explored by the Survey, that there is no reason to 
suppose that any more of these trees will be found there. 

The Mariposa Grove is situated about sixteen miles directly south of the 
Lower Hotel in the Yosemite Valley, and between three and four miles 
southeast of Clark's ranch, .and at an elevation of about 1,500 feet above the 
last-named place, or of 5,500 feet above the sea-level. It lies in a little 
valley, occupying a depression on the back of a ridge, which runs along in 
an easterly direction between Big Creek and the South Merced. One of 
the branches of the creek heads in the grove. 

The grant made by Congress is two miles square, and embraces, in reality, 
two distinct, or nearly distinct groves ; that is to say, two collections of Big 
Trees, between which there is an intervening space without any. The Upper 
Grove is in a pretty compact body, containing, on an area of 3,700 by 2,"5<)i) 
feet in dimensions, just 3G5 trees of the Sequoia rjiijantea, of a diameter 
of one foot and over, besides a great number of small ones. The lower 
grove, which is smaller in size and more scattered, lies in a southwesterly 
direction from the other, some trees growing quite high up in the gulches 
on the south side of the ridge which separates the two groves. 

The trail approaches the Upper Grove from the west side, and passes 
through and around it, in such a manner as to take the visitor very near to 
almost all the largest trees ; to accomplish this, it ascends one branch of the 
creek and then crosses over and descends the other, showing that the size 
of the trees depends somewhat on their position in regard to water. Still, 
there are several very large ones on the side hill south of the creek, quite 
high above the water. 



150 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Several of the trees in this grove have been named, some of them, indeed, 
half a dozen times ; there are no names, however, which seem to have become 
current, as is the case in the Calaveras Grove. A plan has been drawn for 
the Commissioners, however, showing each tree, with its exact position and 
size, a number being attached to each. The circumference of every tree in 
the grove was also carefully measured, and the height of such as could 
be conveniently got at for this purpose. 

From the following table it will be seen that there are several trees in this 
grove larger than any in the Calaveras, and that their average size is greater. 
The average height of the Mariposa trees, however, is less than that of the 
Calaveras ; and the highest of the former, 272 feet, is 53 feet less than 
the tallest one of the latter. There is a burned stump on the north side 
of the 'grove, nearly all gone, but indicating a tree of a size perhaps a little 
greater than any now existing here. The beauty of the Mariposa Grove has 
been sadly marred by the ravages of fire, which has evidently swept through 
it again and again, almost ruining many of the finest trees. Still, the general 
appearance of the grove is extremely grand and imposing. There are about 
125 trees over 40 feet in circumference. 

The principal trees associated with the Big Trees in this grove are : the 
pitch and sugar pines, the Douglas spruce, the white fir (Picea grandis), and 
the bastard cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) ; the latter so much resembles the 
Big Tree in the general appearance of its trunk and bark, that there was 
no person in our party who could certainly distinguish the two species at 
a little distance. 

There are but very few of the young Big Trees growing within the grove, 
where probably they have been destroyed by fire ; around the base of several 
of the large trees, on the outskirts of the grove, there are small plantations 
of young Sequoias, of all sizes, up to six or eight inches in diameter, but 
only a few as large as this. Those trees which are about ten feet in 
diameter and entirely uninjured by fire, in the full symmetry of a vigorous 
growth of say 500 years, are, although not as stupendous as the older giants 
of the forest, still exceedingly beautiful and impressive. 

The annexed table gives the height of all that were measured, and the 
circumference of these and of several other of the largest trees in the grove, 
with some remarks as to their condition and appearance : — 



THE BIG TEEES. 



151 



TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS OF HEIGHT AND CIRCUMFERENCE OF 
TREES IN THE MARIPOSA GROVE. 



No. 


Height. 


Circumference 
at Ground. 


Circumference 

at 6 feet above 

the Ground. 


Remarks. 


6 




77.5 






7 




72.5 






11 




62. 






12 


244 


62. 




Very fine symmetrical tree. 


15 


272 






Fine sound tree. 


16 




86.5 




31 feet in diameter. Hollow. 


20 




72.5 


55. 


Fine tree. 


21 






44. 


Very fine tree, not swollen at base. 


27 


250 


48. 






29 




89.8 






31 


186 


35.7 


29.6 


Very straight and symmetrical. 


35 




65. 


50.8 




38 


226 


27. 






49 


194 








51 


218 


56. 


39. 


Very fine tree. 


52 


249 




40. 


Fine tree. 


60 




81.6 


59. 


Very fine tree, but burned at base. 


64 




82.4 


50. 


Very fine tree. 


66 


221 


39 8 






69 


219 


35.7 






70 


225 


43.9 




* 


77 


197 




27.8 




102 


2.") 5 




50. 


Very fine tree. 


158 


223 








164 


243 




27.6 




169 




79.6 




Much burned at base. 


171 




82.7 




Badly burned on one side. 


174 


268 




40 8 




194 


192 




46. 


Two trees, united at the base. 


205 


229 


87.3 




( Much burned on one side, formerly over 
( 100 feet in circumference. 




206 


235 


70.4 






216 






63.2 


Very large tree, much burned at base. 


226 


219 




48. 


Fine tree. 


236 


256 




46. 




238 






57. 


26 feet in diameter, burned on one side. 


239 


187 




26.6 




245 


270 


81.6 


67.2 


Burned on one side. 


253 




74.3 


60. 




262 




56. 




Half burned away at base. 


275 




68. 






286 




76. 




Burned on one side nearly to centre. 


290 






46. 




301 






51. 


( Largest tree in the Grove, 27 feet in 


304 


260 


92.7 




} diameter, but all burned away on one 

( side. 

( Splendid tree, over 100 feet in circum- 


330 




91.6 




} fcrenee originally, but much burned 
( at base. 


348 


227 




51. 





The meadows on the Big Tree Grant abound in gay, blooming flowers. 
Mr. Bolander enumerates, as the most conspicuous : EudbecJcia Califomica, 



152 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

Gray ; Aconitum nasutum, Fischer ; Anisocarpus Bolanderi, Gray ; Boykinia 
occidentalis, T. and G. ; Sidalcea malvceflora, Gray ; Myrica Gale, L. ; Hulsia 
brevifolia, Gray ; Epilobium angustifolium ; Veratru?n Californicum. A species 
of lupine is very abundant, and this, with the Budbeckia, gives the main 
coloring to the meadows, which also abound with numerous carices. 

The southern division of the Mariposa Grove, or Lower Grove, as it is 
usually called, is said to contain about half as many trees as the one just 
described. They are much scattered among other trees, and do not, there- 
fore, present as imposing an appearance as those in the other grove, where 
quite a large number can often be seen from one point. The largest tree in 
the Lower Grove is the one known as the " Grizzly Giant," which is 93 feet 
7 inches in circumference at the ground, and 64 feet 3 inches at 11 feet 
above. Its two diameters at the base, as near as we could measure, were 30 
and 31 feet. The calculated diameter, at 11 feet above the ground, is 20 
feet nearly. The tree is very much injured and decreased in size by burning, 
for which no allowance has been made in the above measurements. Some of 
the branches of this tree are fully six feet in diameter, or as large as the 
trunks of the largest elms of the Connecticut Valley, of which Dr. Holmes 
has so pleasantly discoursed in the Atlantic Monthly. This tree, however, 
has long since passed its prime, and has the battered and war-worn appear- 
ance conveyed by its name. 

The next grove south of the Mariposa is one in Fresno County, about 
fourteen miles southeast of Clark's, and not far from a conspicuous point 
called Wammelo Rock. Mr. Clark has described this grove, which we have 
not visited, as extending for above two and a half miles in length by from 
one to two in breadth. He has counted 500 trees in it, and believes the 
whole number to be not far from 600. The largest measured 81 feet in 
circumference, at three feet from the ground. 

No other grove of Big Trees has been discovered to the southeast of this, 
along the slope of the Sierra, until we reach a point more than fifty miles 
distant from the Fresno Grove. Here, between the King's and Kaweah 
Rivers, is by far the most extensive collection of trees of this species which 
has yet been discovered in the State. 

This belt of trees, for grove it can hardly be called, occurs about thirty 
miles north-northeast of Visalia, on the tributaries of the King's and Kaweah 



THE BIG TREES. 153 

Rivers, and on the divide between. They are scattered over the slopes and 
on the valleys, but are larger in the depressions, where the soil is more 
moist. Along the trail which runs from Visalia to the Big Meadows, the 
belt is four or five miles wide, and it extends over a vertical range of about 
2,500 feet; its total length is as much as eight or ten miles, and may be 
more. The trees arc not collected together into groves, but are scattered 
through the forests, and associated with the other species usually occurring 
at this altitude in the Sierra ; they are most abundant at from 6,000 to 
7,000 feet elevation above the sea-level. Their number is great; probably 
thousands might be counted. Their size, however, is not great, the average 
being from ten to twelve feet in diameter, and but few exceeding 20 feet ; 
but smaller trees are very numerous. One tree, which had been cut, had 
a diameter of eight feet, exclusive of the bark, and was 377 years old. The 
largest one seen was near Thomas's Mill ; this had a circumference of 10G 
feet near the ground, no allowance being made for a portion which was 
burned away at the base. When entire the tree may have been ten or 
twelve feet more in circumference. At about twelve feet from the ground, the 
circumference was 75 feet. Its height was 276 feet. The top was dead, 
however, and, although the tree was symmetrical and in good growth, it had 
past its prime. 

Another tree, which had fallen, and had been burned hollow, was so large, 
that three horsemen could ride abreast into the cavity for a distance of 30 
feet, its height and width being about 11 feet. At a distance of 70 feet 
the diameter of the cavity was still as much as eight feet. The base of this 
tree could not be easily measured ; but the trunk was burned through at 
120 feet from the ground, and at that point had a diameter (exclusive 
of the bark) of 13 feet 2 inches; and, at 169 feet from its base, the tree 
was nine feet in diameter. The Indians stated that a still larger tree ex- 
isted to the north of King's River. This tree should be looked up and 
carefully measured ; unfortunately, it was not in the power of our party to 
do this. 

All through these forests there are numerous young Big Trees, of all sizes, 

from the seedling upwards, and at Thomas's mill they are cut up for lumber, 

in a manner quite at variance with the oft-repeated story of the exceptional 

character of the species. Prostrate trunks of old trees are also numerous ; 

20 



A ManimoJh Production of "The Glo- 
rious Climate of C»»liforny." 

[San Francisco Post.] 
In a sand lot on Market street, near Sixth, ad- 
joining the Central Market, and encircled by a 
tent of ample dimensions, is a section of the 
it tree in the world, exceeding the din 
lous tree of Calaveras by live fecf. 
monster of the vegetable kingdom was 
in l874on Tulo river.Tulare County, about sev 
five miles from VIsalia. At some remote period, 
its top had been broken off' by the elements of 
some unknown forces, yet when discovered it had 
an elevation of 240 feet. The trunk of the tree was 
111 feet in circumference, with a diameter of thirty- 
fire feet four inches. The section on exhibition is 
out, leaving about a foot of 
bark and several inches of wood. The in- 
terior is one hundred feet in circum- 
ncc and thirty feet in diameter, and it 
has a seating capacity of about two hundred. It 
was cut oil from the tree about twelve feet above 
the b" quired the labor of four nun for 

days to chop it down. In the center of the 
tree, and extending through its whole length, was 
a tot; ut two feet in diameter, partially 

ty, decayed vegetation that had 
fallen into it from the top. In the center of this 
cavity was found the trunk of a little tree of the 
same species, having peifect bark on it, and show- 
ing regular growth. It was of uniform diameter, 
an inch and a half all the way, and when the tree 
fell and split open this curiou-- stem was traced for 
nearly one hundred feet, usually straight, but 00- 
casionully gnarled and twisted as though it had 
met impediments in its growth. It is believed to 
have sprung from a seed in the bottom, grown the 
whole length of the trunk, and supported a green, 
living ton at the summit. The rings in this mon- 
arch of tho forest show its agetohavo been 4,840 
Centuries after it had reared its tall bend 
nward, o!d Nlmrod went to rule Babel and 
built Nineveh, and the great pyramid of Qizen had 
;iot been conceived by the ancient Egyptians. 



COMMISSIONS— ELECTION. 

Frankfort, November 11.— Governor McCreary 
to-day commissioned Die following named gentle- 
men as Delegates to represent the State of Ken- 
tucky in the Convention for the promotion of 
American commerce to be held In the City of 
New Orleans on the 3d day of next December; 
Colonel «L. G. Faxon, of Paducah; Colonel John T. 
Edmunds! of Hopkin.^ville; Hon. Ben T. Perkins, 
of Elktoh; Hon. D. R. Murray, of Cioverpbrt; 
Major J. B. Castleman, of Louisville; Hon. A. B. 
Stephens, of CpVitigton j Hon. Thomas Bradley, of 
Lexington; Hon. Cassius M. Clay, of White Hall; 
Hon. Kichard Reed, of Mount Sterling; Hon. 
Charles Lytic, of Carlisle. 

The Magistrates of this county to-day elected 
Thomas B. Ford, Ex-County Attorney, as Common 
School Commissioner of this county, over Dr. U. V. 
Williams, present incumbent. 



IVnpnSifmcJa, Ohio. 

A SUSPECTED POISONING CASE. 

Wapakoneta, November 11.— It is suspected that 
a poisoning case has occuned here whereby 
Vincent Morris, of Clay Township, Auglaize 
County, lost his life last Thursday morn- 
ing. He was hale and hearty the Satur- 
day noon previous, and ate a hearty dinner, after 
which he went to a public sale and purchased some 
cattle. While driving them home he was taken 
with vomiting and spasms, which continued until 
his death Thursday morning, despite the efforts of 
three or four doctors to save him. Friday 
a Coroner's jury was summoned and 
Dr. Berlin, of this place, held a post-mortem exami- 
nation. The stomach was removed and is under- 
going a chemical analysis. The inquest adjourned 
to next Thursday. 

Delaware, Oiiio. 

HUNTING STOLEN TREASURES. 
_ DELAWARE, N -*«•» 11 - -Kronripn Markp « 



154 THE YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK. 

some of them must have lain for ages, as they were nearly gone, while the 
wood is very durable. 

The only other groves yet discovered are those on the Tule River, of 
which there are two, one on the north and the other on the south branch 
of that stream. They are 15 miles apart, and the most northerly of the two 
is about 30 miles from the grove last described. As the intervening region 
has been but little explored, it is not at all unlikely that more of the Big 
Trees may be found along the fork of the Kaweah which intersects this 
region with its numerous branches. We are not aware that these two Tule 
groves were known previous to their discovery by Mr. D'Heureuse, one of 
the topographers of the Geological Survey, in 1867 ; at least, no notice 
of them had ever appeared in print. The number of trees in these groves 
is quite large, as they are scattered over several square miles of. area. The 
largest of them were said by Mr. D'Heureuse to be about the size of the 
largest in the other groves. 

Not one of the Big Trees has ever been found south of the grove on the 
South Fork of the Tule. The region has not, however, been so thoroughly 
explored that it would be safe to say that none exist there. Judging from 
the extent of the area over which this species is scattered, between King's 
and Kaweah Rivers, it would seem that here was its most congenial habitat, 
and it may eventually be found that this tree forms pretty nearly a contin- 
uous belt, for some fifty or sixty miles. 

From what has been stated above, the reader will easily gather, that the 
Big Tree is not that wonderfully exceptional thing which popular writers 
have almost always described it as being. It is not so restricted in its range 
as some other species of the Coniferce in California ; it occurs in great abun- 
dance, of all ages and sizes, and there is no reason to suppose that it is now 
dying out, or that it belongs to a past geological era, any more than the 
redwood. The age of the Big Trees is not so great as that assigned, by the 
highest authorities, to some of the English yews. Neither is its height as 
great, by far, as that of an Australian species, the Eucalyptus amygdalina, 
many of which have, on the authority of Dr. Miiller, the eminent Govern- 
ment botanist, been found to measure over 400 feet. One, indeed, reaches 
the enormous elevation of 480 feet, thus overtopping the tallest Sequoia by 

155 feet. There are also trees which exceed the Big Tree in diameter, as, for 



THE BIG TREES. 155 

instance, the Baobab (Adansonia digitata) ; but these are always compara- 
tively low, not exceeding 60 or 70 feet in height, and much swollen at the 
base. 

On the whole, it may be stated, that there is no known tree which 
approaches the Sequoia in grandeur, thickness and height being both taken 
into consideration, unless it be the Eucalyptus. The largest Australian tree 
yet reported is said to be 81 feet in circumference, at four feet from the 
ground; this is nearly, but not quite, as large as some of the largest of 
the Big Trees of California. 






THE END. 



University Press, Cambridge : Printed by Welch, Bigelovv, & Co. 



lit'' 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




017 135 469 9 







'owv 



MDCCCL 



